Detection of an antibody against a pathogen

ABSTRACT

Provided herein are methods of detecting an antibody directed against a pathogen and uses thereof. One aspect provided herein relates to a method for detecting an antibody against a pathogen in a subject, the method comprising: (a) contacting a reaction sample comprising a display library with a biological sample comprising antibodies, wherein the display library comprises a plurality of peptides derived from a plurality of pathogens, and (b) detecting a peptide bound to at least one antibody, thereby detecting an antibody capable of binding the peptide.

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/917,104 filed Dec. 17, 2013, the contentsof which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Vertebrate immune systems have evolved sophisticated genetic mechanismsto generate T-cell receptor and antibody repertoires, which arecombinatorial libraries of affinity molecules capable of distinguishingbetween self and non-self. In higher mammals, a delicate balance isstruck between metabolism, immune defense against pathogens andautoimmunity, wherein disturbances can result in disease anddysfunction. Amongst such pathogens are viruses. A host's antibodyresponse is crucial for preventing viral infection, or resolution ofinfection, as antibodies are produced against many epitopes on multiplevirus proteins upon viral contact. However, these processes can go awrywhen, for example, antibodies recognizing viral peptides cross-reactwith human antigens and contribute to autoimmune disease.

Antibodies bind protein antigens by a variety of mechanisms andknowledge of the processes governing these interactions is improving.For instance, it is now understood that antibody binding surfaces onnatively folded proteins tend to be dominated by ‘discontinuous’epitopes, which are patches of ˜4 to 14 amino acid side chains formed bytwo or more noncontiguous peptides brought into proximity during proteinfolding. If a protein is divided into its constituent peptides, antibodyaffinity can decrease due to the loss of contacts contributed bynoncontiguous residues, and the increased entropic costs of binding afree peptide as opposed to the natively constrained peptide. On theother hand, antibodies targeting normally inaccessible epitopes can begenerated, such as those that recognize proteolytic cleavage products,misfolded proteins or protein aggregates. In circumstances such asthese, full-length, folded proteins may be less sensitive using antigendetection techniques than with shorter peptides. Thus, the degree towhich individual peptides interact with a given antibody is difficult topredict, and is expected to vary widely not only amongst differentpeptides, but also within same or similar peptides introduced intodifferent individuals. In the specific instance of viral antigens,wide-scale, parallel detection is particularly challenging, given highlyadaptive evolutionary nature of viruses and comparatively smallantigenic signature.

Unfortunately, traditional phage display systems, lack sufficientsensitivity and accuracy to account for such potential antigenicvariations. For example, existing techniques for identifyingautoantibody targets have relied largely on the expression of fragmentedcDNA libraries, such as polypeptides fused to the capsid proteins ofbacteriophage. Notable technical limitations of this method include thesmall fraction of clones expressing coding sequences in the correctreading frame (with a lower bound of 6%), and system bias due to thehighly skewed representation of differentially expressed cDNAs.

SUMMARY

Described herein is a proteomic technology applying a phage library thatcan uniformly express peptide libraries, such as the substantiallycomplete human peptidome, or synthetic representations of asubstantially complete set of viral peptides known to infect humans. Bycombining T7-Pep phage library with high-throughput DNA sequencing, thedescribed systems and methods allow for a wide variety ofhigh-throughput proteomic investigations, with unprecedented speed,precision, and accuracy. For example, the inventors successfullyestablished a complete set of viral peptides containing 79,407 peptidesequences derived from 788 unique viruses, encompassing over 201species, 67 genera, and 29 families of viruses. This comprehensivelibrary allows simultaneous detection of antiviral antibody response ina subject for both prior and ongoing exposure against virtually all ofknown viruses capable of infecting humans. Such systems and methodsallow a systematic approach for detection of virus infection, mapping ofantiviral antibody epitopes, identification of cross-reactive autoimmuneepitopes, among a variety of other diagnostic, clinical and technicaluses. Thus, provided herein are phage libraries and methods for useincluding, but not limited to, methods for detecting an antibody againsta virus, methods for identifying a viral cause of disease, and methodsfor improving vaccine design.

One aspect provided herein relates to a method for detecting an antibodyagainst a pathogen in a subject, the method comprising: (a) contacting areaction sample comprising a display library with a biological samplecomprising antibodies, wherein the display library comprises a pluralityof peptides derived from a plurality of pathogens, and (b) detecting apeptide bound to at least one antibody, thereby detecting an antibodycapable of binding the peptide.

In one embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects described herein,the plurality of pathogens is a plurality of viruses, bacteria or fungi.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the display library is a phage display library.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies in the reaction sample are immobilized.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies are immobilized to a solid support adapted forbinding IgM, IgA, or IgG subclasses.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies are immobilized by contacting the display libraryand antibodies from the biological sample with Protein A and/or ProteinG.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the Protein A and/or Protein G are immobilized to a solidsupport.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the method further comprises removing unbound antibody andpeptides of the display library.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 100, 200, 300, 500,500, 600, 700, 800, or 900 amino acids long.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 75 amino acidslong.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, each peptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a commonadapter region appended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encodingthe peptide.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the detection of the at least one peptide comprises a step oflysing the phage and amplifying the DNA.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, at least two antibodies are detected. In another embodiment ofthis aspect and all other aspects described herein, at least twopeptides are detected.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the at least two antibodies are detected simultaneously. Inanother embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the at least two peptides are detected simultaneously.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, antibodies from the biological samples are immobilized.

Another aspect provided herein relates to a method for identifying apathogenic component in a disease, the method comprising: (a) obtaininga biological sample from a plurality of subjects having a commondisease, wherein the common disease is suspected of having a pathogeniccomponent, (b) separately contacting each sample of a plurality ofreaction samples with each biological sample under conditions that allowformation of at least one antibody-peptide complex, wherein the reactionsamples each comprise a display library comprising a plurality ofpeptides derived from a plurality of pathogens, (c) isolating the atleast one antibody-peptide complex formed in each reaction sample fromunbound phage, (d) correlating at least one peptide in the at least oneantibody-peptide complex in each reaction sample to the pathogen fromwhich it is derived, and (e) identifying a pathogen that issignificantly enriched in the plurality of subjects with diseasecompared to subjects without the disease.

In one embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects described herein,the plurality of pathogens is a plurality of viruses, bacteria or fungi.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the display library is a phage display library.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies in the reaction sample are immobilized.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies are immobilized to a solid support adapted forbinding IgM. IgA, or IgG subclasses.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies are immobilized by contacting the display libraryand antibodies from the biological sample with Protein A and/or ProteinG.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the Protein A and/or Protein G are immobilized to a solidsupport.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 100, 200, 300, 400,500, 600, 700, 800 or 900 amino acids long.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 75 amino acidslong.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, each peptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a commonadapter region appended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encodingthe peptide.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, correlating the at least one peptide comprises a step of lysingthe phage and amplifying the DNA.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, at least two peptides are detected.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the at least two peptides are detected simultaneously.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the common disease comprises disease selected from the groupconsisting of: Kawasaki Disease, Bell's Palsy, Meniere's Disease, Type Idiabetes, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, GulfWar Illness, Myasthenia Gravis, and IgG4 disease.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the method further comprises identifying the epitope to whichthe antibody binds.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the method further comprises determining whether the antibodycross-reacts with an autoimmune antigen in the subject.

Another aspect provided herein relates to a method for improving vaccinedesign, the method comprising: (a) obtaining a biological sample from aplurality of subjects exposed to a pathogen, (b) separately contactingeach sample of a plurality of reaction samples with each biologicalsample under conditions that allow formation of at least oneantibody-peptide complex, wherein the reaction samples each comprise adisplay library comprising a plurality of peptides derived from aplurality of pathogens, (c) isolating the at least one antibody-peptidecomplex formed in each reaction sample from unbound phage, (d)correlating at least one peptide in the at least one antibody-peptidecomplex in each reaction sample to the pathogen from which it isderived, and (e) identifying an antigenic peptide that is significantlyenriched in the plurality of subjects exposed to the pathogen ascompared to subjects that have not been exposed to the pathogen for usein designing an improved vaccine.

In one embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects described herein,the plurality of pathogens is a plurality of viruses, bacteria or fungi.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the display library is a phage display library.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies in the reaction sample are immobilized.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies are immobilized to a solid support adapted forbinding IgM, IgA, or IgG subclasses.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the antibodies are immobilized by contacting the display libraryand antibodies from the biological sample with Protein A and/or ProteinG.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the Protein A and/or Protein G are immobilized to a solidsupport.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 100 amino acidslong.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 75 amino acidslong.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, each peptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a commonadapter region appended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encodingthe peptide.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the detection of the antigenic peptide comprises a step oflysing the phage and amplifying the DNA.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, at least two antibodies are detected.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the at least two antibodies are detected simultaneously.

Also provided herein, in another aspect, is a phage library displaying aplurality of viral peptides, wherein the plurality of viral peptidesrepresent a set of peptides from viruses known to infect humans.

In one embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects described herein,the phage library comprises a plurality of viral peptides from at least3 viruses known to infect humans.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the phage library comprises a plurality of viral peptides fromat least 10 viruses known to infect humans.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the phage library comprises a plurality of viral peptides fromat least 20 viruses known to infect humans.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the phage library comprises at least 10 peptide sequences.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the phage library comprises at least 20 peptide sequences.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 100 amino acidslong.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are each less than 75 amino acidslong.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, each peptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a commonadapter region appended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encodingthe peptide.

In another embodiment of this aspect and all other aspects describedherein, the plurality of peptides are immunodominant epitopes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIGS. 1A-1C show the fold enrichment of each peptide in each of twopull-downs with (FIG. 1A) the same donor serum or (FIG. 1B) the sera oftwo different donors (FIG. 1C) illustration of process (from Benjamin,et al. Nature Biotechnology 29: 535-541 (2011)).

FIG. 2 is a heatmap showing the distribution of responses to virusesacross different patient samples. The percentage of peptides from aparticular virus that were determined to be significantly enriched inthat particular sample.

FIG. 3 Using a library of peptides encoded by the human genome, theInventors identified an epitope in multiple sclerosis patients known tocross-react with a portion of the EBV BRRF2 protein (B) inset, blacksquares indicates the patient, columns, has a response against thepeptide, row, containing the epitope). Using the library of peptidesencoded by human viruses, the Inventors also detected strong responsesagainst this epitope, found in two peptides (BRRF2 A and BRRF2 B), inall three of samples from patients with multiple sclerosis who hadpreviously been confirmed to have cross-reacting antibody responses(MS_2430_2, MS2430_1, and MS_5826_1). (C) ClustalW alignment is shownalong with (D) MEME-generated seven-element motif.

FIGS. 4A-4E show a general VirScan analysis of the human virome. Thevirome peptide library consists of 93,904 56 amino acid peptides tiling,with 28 amino acid overlap, across the proteomes of all known humanviruses. 200 nt DNA sequences encoding the peptides were printed on areleasable DNA microarray. The released DNA was amplified and clonedinto a T7 phage display vector and packaged into virus particlesdisplaying the encoded peptide on its surface. The library is mixed witha sample containing antibodies that bind to their cognate peptideantigen on the phage surface. The antibodies are immobilized and unboundphage are washed away. Finally, amplification of the bound DNA and highthroughput sequencing of the insert DNA from bound phage revealspeptides targeted by sample antibodies. Abbreviations: aa, amino acid;Ab, antibody; IP: immunoprecipitation. (FIG. 4A) Antibody profile ofrandomly chosen group of donors to show typical assay results. Each rowis a virus, each column is a sample. The label above each chartindicates whether the donors are over 10 years of age or at most 10years of age. The intensity of each cell indicates the number ofpeptides from the virus that were significantly enriched by antibodiesin the sample. (FIG. 4B) Overlap between enriched peptides detected byVirScan and human B cell epitopes from viruses in IEDB. The entire pinkcircle represents the 1,715 groups of non-redundant IEDB epitopes thatare also present in the VirScan library (out of 1.877 clusters total).The overlap region represents the number of groups with an epitope thatis also contained in an enriched peptide detected by VirScan. The purpleonly region represents the number of non-redundant enriched peptidesdetected by VirScan that do not contain an IEDB epitope. Data are shownfor peptides enriched in at least one and at least two samples. (FIG.4C) Overlap between enriched peptides detected by VirScan and human Bcell epitopes in IEDB from common human viruses. The regions representthe same values as in (FIG. 4B) except only epitopes corresponding tothe indicated virus are considered, and only peptides from that virusthat were enriched in at least two samples were considered. (FIG. 4D)Distribution of number of viruses detected in each sample. The histogramdepicts the frequency of samples binned by the number of virus speciesdetected by VirScan. The mean and median of the distribution are bothapproximately 11 virus species. (FIG. 4E) Frequently observed virusexposures. The ‘%’ column indicates the percentage of samples that werepositive for the virus by VirScan. Known HIV and HCV positive sampleswere excluded when performing this analysis.

FIGS. 5A-5E show a population stratification of the human virome immuneresponse. The bar graphs depict the differences in exposure to virusesbetween donors who are (FIG. 5A) children less than ten years of ageversus adults over ten years of age, (FIG. 5B) HIV positive versus HIVnegative, (FIG. 5C) residing in Peru versus residing in the UnitedStates, (FIG. 5D) residing in South Africa versus residing in the UnitedStates, and (FIG. 5E) residing in Thailand versus residing in the UnitedStates. Asterisks indicate false discovery rate <0.05.

FIGS. 6A-6C show data indicating that the human anti-virome responserecognizes a similar spectrum of peptides among infected individuals. Inthe heatmap charts, each row is a peptide tiling across the entireindicated protein and each column is a sample. The bar above eachcolumn, labeled at the top of the figure, marks the country of originfor that sample. The samples shown are a subset of individuals withantibodies to at least one peptide from the proteins indicated. Theintensity of each cell corresponds to the −log₁₀ (p-value) measure ofsignificance of enrichment for a peptide in a sample (greater valuesindicates stronger antibody response). Data are shown for (FIG. 6A)Human respiratory syncytial virus Attachment Glycoprotein G (G), (FIG.6B) Human adenovirus C penton protein (L2), and (FIG. 6C) Epstein-Barrvirus nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1). Data shown are the mean of tworeplicates.

FIGS. 7A-7C Recognition of common epitopes within an immunogenic peptidefrom human adenovirus C penton protein (L2) across individuals. Each rowis a sample. Each column denotes the first mutated position for the(FIG. 7A) single-, (FIG. 7B) double-, and (FIG. 7C) triple-alaninemutant peptide scanning through. The intensity of each cell indicatesthe enrichment of the mutant peptide relative to the wild-type. Fordouble-mutants, the last position is blank. The same is true for thelast two positions for triple-mutants. Data shown are the mean of tworeplicates.

FIG. 8 Reproducibility threshold. Scatterplot for median and medianabsolute deviation of replicate 2 −log₁₀ (p-values) whose replicate 1−log₁₀ (p-value) falls within the window whose left edge is shown on thehorizontal axis.

FIG. 9 Distribution of reproducibility threshold −log₁₀ (p-values).Histogram of the frequency of the reproducibility threshold −log₁₀(p-values). The mean and median of the distribution are bothapproximately 2.3.

FIG. 10 Correlation between virus size and number of enriched peptides.Each dot on this log-log scatterplot is a virus. The horizontal axiscorresponds to the size of the virus in number of peptides. The verticalaxis corresponds to the average number of peptides enriched from thevirus across all samples tested. The dashed line is a least-squaresbest-fit curve for the data.

FIGS. 11A-11B Amino acid composition of enriched peptides. (FIG. 11A)Bar graph of the fractional abundance of each amino acid in the entirevirome peptide library or peptides enriched in at least 2 samples. (FIG.11B) Bar graph of the fractional abundance of each amino acid inpeptides enriched in at least 2 samples subtracted by the abundance inthe entire library.

FIGS. 12A-12C Influenza A: hemagglutinin (UniProt ID: HSPET1, positions1-56) Scanning mutagenesis identification of linear B cell epitopes inan immunogenic peptide from human viral proteins. Each row is a sample.Each column denotes the first mutated position for (FIG. 12A) single-,(FIG. 12B) double-, and (FIG. 12C) triple-alanine mutant peptides. Theintensity of each cell indicates the enrichment of the mutant peptiderelative to the wild-type. For double-mutants, the last position isblank. The same is true for the last two positions for triple-mutants.Data shown are the mean of two replicates.

FIGS. 13A-13C Respiratory syncytial virus: attachment G glycoprotein(UniProt ID: P03276, positions 337-392) Scanning mutagenesisidentification of linear B cell epitopes in an immunogenic peptide fromhuman viral proteins. Each row is a sample. Each column denotes thefirst mutated position for (FIG. 13A) single-, (FIG. 13B) double-, and(FIG. 13C) triple-alanine mutant peptides. The intensity of each cellindicates the enrichment of the mutant peptide relative to thewild-type. For double-mutants, the last position is blank. The same istrue for the last two positions for triple-mutants. Data shown are themean of two replicates.

FIGS. 14A-14C Enterovirus B: genome polyprotein (UniProt ID: Q66474,positions 561-616) Scanning mutagenesis identification of linear B cellepitopes in an immunogenic peptide from human viral proteins. Each rowis a sample. Each column denotes the first mutated position for (FIG.14A) single-, (FIG. 14B) double-, and (FIG. 14C) triple-alanine mutantpeptides. The intensity of each cell indicates the enrichment of themutant peptide relative to the wild-type. For double-mutants, the lastposition is blank. The same is true for the last two positions fortriple-mutants. Data shown are the mean of two replicates.

FIGS. 15A-15C Enterovirus B: genome polyprotein (UniProt ID: Q6W9F9,positions 1429-1484) Scanning mutagenesis identification of linear Bcell epitopes in an immunogenic peptide from human viral proteins. Eachrow is a sample. Each column denotes the first mutated position for(FIG. 15A) single-, (FIG. 15B) double-, and (FIG. 15C) triple-alaninemutant peptides. The intensity of each cell indicates the enrichment ofthe mutant peptide relative to the wild-type. For double-mutants, thelast position is blank. The same is true for the last two positions fortriple-mutants. Data shown are the mean of two replicates.

FIGS. 16A-16C Rhinovirus A: genome polyprotein (UniProt ID: Q82122,positions 561-616) Scanning mutagenesis identification of linear B cellepitopes in an immunogenic peptide from human viral proteins. Each rowis a sample. Each column denotes the first mutated position for (FIG.16A) single-, (FIG. 16B) double-, and (FIG. 16C) triple-alanine mutantpeptides. The intensity of each cell indicates the enrichment of themutant peptide relative to the wild-type. For double-mutants, the lastposition is blank. The same is true for the last two positions fortriple-mutants. Data shown are the mean of two replicates.

FIGS. 17A-17C Epstein-Barr virus: nuclear antigen 1(UniProt ID: Q1HVF7,positions 393-448) Scanning mutagenesis identification of linear B cellepitopes in an immunogenic peptide from human viral proteins. Each rowis a sample. Each column denotes the first mutated position for (FIG.17A) single-, (FIG. 17B) double-, and (FIG. 17C) triple-alanine mutantpeptides. The intensity of each cell indicates the enrichment of themutant peptide relative to the wild-type. For double-mutants, the lastposition is blank. The same is true for the last two positions fortriple-mutants. Data shown are the mean of two replicates.

FIGS. 18A-18C Adenovirus C: precapsid vertex protein (UniProt ID:P03279, positions 533-585) Scanning mutagenesis identification of linearB cell epitopes in an immunogenic peptide from human viral proteins.Each row is a sample. Each column denotes the first mutated position for(FIG. 18A) single-, (FIG. 18B) double-, and (FIG. 18C) triple-alaninemutant peptides. The intensity of each cell indicates the enrichment ofthe mutant peptide relative to the wild-type. For double-mutants, thelast position is blank. The same is true for the last two positions fortriple-mutants. Data shown are the mean of two replicates.

FIGS. 19A-19C Zero inflated generalized poisson (ZIGP) parametersregressed on input count. Each scatter plot depicts the maximumlikelihood estimates for the ZIGP parameters as a function of the inputcount (horizontal axis). Dashed lines are least-squares linearregressions for 0 and k, and least-squares exponential regression for n.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventors have previously deployed programmable microarrays tosynthesize oligonucleotides encoding wide sets of peptides, such as thecomplete human peptidome, coupled with high throughput sequencing toanalyze the results after selection. Larman, H. Benjamin, et al.“Autoantigen discovery with a synthetic human peptidome.” NatureBiotechnology 29: 535-541 (2011). Described herein is a specificimplementation of that approach wherein synthetic representations of acomplete set of viral peptides can be generated, such as a set of viralpeptides derived from viruses known to infect humans.

One aspect of the present technology is that unlike existing phagedisplay techniques which rely on cDNA, programmable microarrays enableconstruction of a starting library that is uniformly distributed. Thesynthetic programmable microarray approach eliminates skewed initialdistributions in cDNA libraries resulting from incorrect reading frameor differential gene expression obstacles, which ultimately hamperaccurate detection of peptide enrichment. Further, when coupled withhigh throughput sequencing for selection, the programmable microarrayapproach compares favorably to traditional Sanger sequencing ormicroarray hybridization techniques, as high throughput phageimmunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-Seq) allows sensitive detection fora larger number of library members and with a wider dynamic range.

A key aspect of the present invention is extending the programmablemicroarray technique to include peptides from the protein sequences ofviruses, including those that infect humans. Viruses play an importantrole in the pathogenesis of various human diseases and antiviralantibody responses can be very strong, essentially providing apersistent, but subtle antibody host signature for detection. Upon viralor other pathogenic exposure, host generated antibodies can neutralizeviral particles and stop infection by interfering with virion binding toreceptors, blocking uptake into cells, preventing uncoating of thegenomes in endosomes, or causing aggregation of virus particles. In someinstances, enveloped viruses are lysed when antiviral antibodies andserum complement disrupt membranes. In other instances, non-neutralizingantibodies that bind specifically to virus particles, but do notneutralize infectivity may actually enhance infectivity due toantibodies that interact with receptors on macrophages, resulting invirus-antibody complex being brought into the cell by endocytosis. Viralreplication then proceeds, as the antibody does not block infectivity,and this pathway may allow entry into cells which normally do not bearspecific virus receptors. Moreover, in some situations, host generatedantibodies recognizing viral peptides can cross-react with humanself-antigens, contributing to the establishment and progression ofautoimmune disease. Each of these mechanisms plays a vital role inaccounting for the potentiality of disease and/or dysfunction caused byviral exposure.

While the disclosure specifically recites phage display libraries, it isspecifically contemplated herein that other display libraries can beused with the methods and assays described herein including, but notlimited to, a yeast display library, a bacterial display library, aretroviral display library, a ribosome display library or an mRNAdisplay library. It is within the skills of one of ordinary skill in theart to apply the methods and assays exemplified herein using a phagedisplay library to the use of a different type of display library.

DEFINITIONS

As used herein, the term “display library” refers to a librarycomprising a plurality of peptides derived from a plurality of pathogensthat are displayed on the surface of a virus or cell e.g.,bacteriophage, yeast, or bacteria. Methods for using such phage, yeastor bacterial display libraries are well known to those of skill in theart.

As used herein, the term “common disease” refers to a subset of subjectshaving the same or substantially similar diseases: that is, the subjectshave the same disease “in common.”

As used herein, the term “antibody-peptide complex” refers to a complexformed when an antibody recognizes an epitope on a peptide and binds tothe epitope under low or normal stringent conditions. It will beappreciated that an antibody-peptide complex can dissociate under highstringent conditions, such as low or high pH, or high temperatures.

As used herein, the term “to the pathogen from which it is derived”refers to a step of correlating or mapping at least one peptide in anantibody-peptide complex to a sequence in the known sequences of theviruses, thereby identifying the pathogen that comprises the peptidesequence.

As used herein, the term “enriched” indicates that peptides from a givenpathogen are represented at a higher proportion in a population ofsubjects having a common disease or exposed to a pathogen as compared tothe general population or a population lacking the common disease orpathogen exposure. In some embodiments, the peptides from a givenpathogen in the population of subjects having a common disease areenriched by at least 10% as compared to the general population. In otherembodiments, the peptides for a given pathogen are enriched by at least20%, at least 30%, at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, at least70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 99%, at least1-fold, at least 2-fold, at least 5-fold, at least 10-fold, at least25-fold, at least 50-fold, at least 100-fold, at least 1000-fold, ormore, compared to the general population.

As used herein the term “oligonucleotide primers” refers to nucleic acidsequences that are 5 to 100 nucleotides in length, preferably from 17 to45 nucleotides, although primers of different length are of use. Primersfor synthesizing cDNAs are preferably 10-45 nucleotides, while primersfor amplification are preferably about 17-25 nucleotides. Primers usefulin the methods described herein are also designed to have a particularmelting temperature (Tm) by the method of melting temperatureestimation. Commercial programs, including OLIGO™, Primer Design andprograms available on the internet, including PRIMER3 and OLIGOCALCULATOR can be used to calculate a Tm of a polynucleotide sequenceuseful according to the methods and assays described herein. Preferably,the Tm of an amplification primer useful according to the invention, ascalculated for example by OLIGO CALCULATOR, is preferably between about45 and 65° C. In other embodiments, the Tm of the amplification primeris between about 50 and 60° C.

As used herein, the term “sample” refers to a biological material whichis isolated from its natural environment and contains at least oneantibody. A sample according to the methods described herein, mayconsist of purified or isolated antibody, or it may comprise abiological sample such as a tissue sample, a biological fluid sample, ora cell sample comprising an antibody. A biological fluid includes, butis not limited to, blood, plasma, sputum, urine, cerebrospinal fluid,lavages, and leukophoresis samples, for example.

As used herein the term “adapter sequence” refers to a nucleic acidsequence appended to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a phage-displayedpeptide. In one embodiment, the identical adaptor sequence is appendedto the end of each phage-displayed peptide in the phage display library;that is, the adaptor sequence is a common sequence on each nucleic acidof the plurality of nucleic acids encoding a peptide in the phagedisplay library. In one embodiment, the adaptor sequence is ofsufficient length to permit annealing of a common PCR primer. Forexample, adaptor sequences useful with the methods described herein arepreferably heterologous or artificial nucleotide sequences of at least15, and preferably 20 to 30 nucleotides in length. An adaptor sequenceas described herein can be, but is not necessarily random.

As used herein, the term “comprising” means that other elements can alsobe present in addition to the defined elements presented. The use of“comprising” indicates inclusion rather than limitation.

The term “consisting of” refers to compositions, methods, and respectivecomponents thereof as described herein, which are exclusive of anyelement not recited in that description of the embodiment.

As used herein the term “consisting essentially of” refers to thoseelements required for a given embodiment. The term permits the presenceof elements that do not materially affect the basic and novel orfunctional characteristic(s) of that embodiment of the invention.

Pathogens

Provided herein are phage display libraries that comprise a plurality ofpeptides derived from one or more pathogens.

As used herein the term “pathogen” refers to an organism, including amicroorganism, which causes disease in another organism (e.g., animalsand plants) by directly infecting the other organism, or by producingagents that causes disease in another organism (e.g., bacteria thatproduce pathogenic toxins and the like). As used herein, pathogensinclude, but are not limited to bacteria, protozoa, fungi, nematodes,viroids and viruses, or any combination thereof, wherein each pathogenis capable, either by itself or in concert with another pathogen, ofeliciting disease in vertebrates including but not limited to mammals,and including but not limited to humans. As used herein, the term“pathogen” also encompasses microorganisms which may not ordinarily bepathogenic in a non-immunocompromised host. Specific nonlimitingexamples of viral pathogens include Herpes simplex virus (HSV)1, HSV2,Epstein Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), human Herpes virus(HHV) 6, HHV7, HHV8, Varicella zoster virus (VZV), hepatitis C,hepatitis B, adenovirus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus (EEEV). WestNile virus (WNE), JC virus (JCV) and BK virus (BKV).

As used herein, the term “microorganism” includes prokaryotic andeukaryotic microbial species from the Domains of Archaea, Bacteria andEucarya, the latter including yeast and filamentous fungi, protozoa,algae, or higher Protista. The terms “microbial cells” and “microbes”are used interchangeably with the term microorganism.

“Bacteria”, or “Eubacteria”, refers to a domain of prokaryoticorganisms. Bacteria include at least 11 distinct groups as follows: (1)Gram-positive (gram+) bacteria, of which there are two majorsubdivisions: (i) high G+C group (Actinomycetes, Mycobacteria,Micrococcus, others) (ii) low G+C group (Bacillus, Clostridia,Lactobacillus, Staphylococci, Streptococci, Mycoplasmas); (2)Proteobacteria, e.g., Purple photosynthetic+non-photosyntheticGram-negative bacteria (includes most “common” Gram-negative bacteria);(3) Cyanobacteria, e.g., oxygenic phototrophs; (4) Spirochetes andrelated species; (5) Planctomyces; (6) Bacteroides, Flavobacteria; (7)Chlamydia; (8) Green sulfur bacteria; (9) Green non-sulfur bacteria(also anaerobic phototrophs); (10) Radioresistant micrococci andrelatives; (11) Thermotoga and Thermosipho thermophiles.

“Gram-negative bacteria” include cocci, nonenteric rods, and entericrods. The genera of Gram-negative bacteria include, for example,Neisseria, Spirillum, Pasteurella, Brucella, Yersinia, Francisella,Haemophilus, Bordetella, Escherichia, Salmonella, Shigella, Klebsiella,Proteus, Vibrio, Pseudomonas, Bacteroides, Aceobacter, Aerobacter,Agrobacterium, Azotobacter, Spirilla, Serratia, Vibrio, Rhizobium,Chlamydia, Rickettsia, Treponema, and Fusobacterium.

“Gram-positive bacteria” include cocci, nonsporulating rods, andsporulating rods. The genera of Gram-positive bacteria include, forexample, Actinomyces, Bacillus, Clostridium, Corynebacterium,Erysipelothrix, Lactobacillus, Listeria, Mycobacterium, Myxococcus,Nocardia, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Streptomyces.

The methods described herein can be used to generate a phage displaylibrary comprising peptides from pathogens including, but not limited topathogens from any of the following genera of viruses: Adenoviridae,Alfamovirus, Allexitvirus, Allolevivirus, Alphacryptovirus,Alphaherpesvirinae, Alphanodavirus, Alpharetrovirus, Alphavirus,Aphthovirus, Apscaviroid, Aquabirnavirus, Aquareovirus, Arenaviridae,Arenavirus, Arteriviridae, Arterivirus, Ascoviridae, Ascovirus,Asfarviridae, Asfivirus, Astroviridae, Astrovirus, Aureusvirus,Avenavirus, Aviadenovirus, Avihirnavirus, Avihepadnavirus, Avipoxvirus,Avsunviroid, Avsunviroidae, Baculoviridae, Badnavirus, Barnaviridae,Barnavirus, Bdellomicrovirus, Begomovirus, Benyvirus, Betacryptovirus,Betaherpesvirinae, Betanodavirus, Betaretrovirus, Betatetravirus,Birnaviridae, Bornaviridae, Bornavirus, Bracovirus, Brevidensovirus,Bromoviridae, Bromovirus, Bunyaviridae, Bunyavirus, Bymovirus, “c2-likeviruses.” Caliciviridae, Capillovirus, Capripoxvirus, Cardiovirus,Carlavirus, Carmovirus, “Cassava vein mosaic-like viruses,”Caulimoviridae, Caulimovirus, Chlamydiamicrovirus, Chloriridovirus,Chlorovirus, Chordopoxvirinae, Chrysovirus, Circoviridae Circovirus,Closteroviridae, Closterovirus, Cocadviroid, Coleviroid, Coltivirus,Comoviridae, Comovirus, Coronaviridae, Coronavirus, Corticoviridae,Corticovirus, “Cricket paralysis-like viruses,” Crinivirus, Cucumovirus,Curtovirus, Cypovirus, Cystoviridae, Cystovirus, Cytomegalovirus,Cytorhabdovirus, Deltarelrovirus, Deltavirus, Densovirinae, Densovirus,Dependovirus, Dianthovirus, “Ebola-like viruses.” Enamovirus,Enterovirus, Entomobirnavirus, Entomopoxyirinae, Entomopoxvirus A,Entomopoxvirus B, Entomopoxvirus C, Ephemerovirus, Epsilonretrovirus,Errantivirus, Erythrovirus, Fabavirus, Fijivirus, Filoviridae,Flaviviridae, Flavivirus, Foveavirus, Furovirus, Fuselloviridae,Fusellovirus, Gammaherpesvirinae Gammaretrovius, Geminiviridae,Giardiavirus, Granulovirus, Hantavirus, Hemivirus, Hepacivirus,Hepadnaviridae, “Hepatitis E-like viruses,” Hepatovirus, Herpesviridae,Hordeivirus, Hostuviroid, Hvpoviridae, Hypovirus, Ichnovirus, “Ictaluridherpes-like viruses,” Idaeovirus, Ilarvirus, “Infectiouslarvngotracheitis-like viruses.” Influenzavirus A, Influenzavirus B,Influenzavirus C, Inoviridae, Inovirus, Ipomovirus, Iridoviridae,Iridovirus, Iteravirus, “L5-like viruses,” Lagovirus, “-like viruses,”Leishmaniavirus, Lentivirus, Leporipoxvirus, Leviviridae, Levivirus,Lipothrirviridae, Lipothrirvirus, Luteoviridae, Luteovirus,Lvmphocryplovirus, Lymphocystivirus, Lyssavirus, Machlomovirus,Macluravirus, Marafivirus, “Marburg-like viruses,” “Marek's disease-likeviruses,” Mastadenovirus, Mastrevirus, Metapneumovirus, Metaviridae,Metavirus, Microviridae, Microvirus, Mitovirus, Molluscipoxvirus,Morbillivirus, “Mu-like viruses,” Muromegalovirus, Myoviridae,Nairovirus, Nanovirus, Narnaviridae, Narnavirus, Necrovirus, Nepovirus,Nodaviridae, “Norwalk-like viruses,” Novirhabdovirus,Nucleopolyhedrovirus, Nucleorhabdovirus, Oleavirus, Omegatetravirus,Ophiovirus, Orbivirus, Orthohepadnavirus, Orthomyroviridae,Orthopoxvirus, Orthoreovirus, Oryzavirus, Ourmiavirus, “P1-likeviruses,” “P2-like viruses,” “P22-like viruses,” Panicovirus,Papillomaviridae, Papillomavirus, Paramyxoviridae, Paramyxovirinae,Parapoxvirus, Parechovirus, Partitiviridae, Partitivirus, Parvoriridae,Parvovirinae, Parvovirus, Pecluvirus, Pelamoviroid, Pestivirus, “Petuniavein clearing-like viruses,” Phaeovirus, “−29-like viruses,” “--H-likeviruses,” Phlebovirus, Phycodnaviridae, Phytoreovirus, Picornaviridae,Plasmaviridae, Plasmavirus, Plectrovirus, Pneumovirinae, Pneumovirus,Podoviridae, Polerovirus, Polvdnaviridae, Polyomaviridae, Polyomavirus,Pomovirus, Pospiviroid, Pospiviroidae, Potexvirus, Potyviridae,Potyvirus, Poxviridae, Prasinovirus, Prions, Prymnesiovirus,Pseudoviridae, Pseudovirus, “M1-like viruses”, Ranavirus, Reoviridae,Respirovirus, Retroviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Rhadinovirus, Rhinovirus,Rhizidiovirus, “Rice tungro bacilliform-like viruses,” Roseolovirus,Rolavirus, Rubivirus, Rubulavirus, Rudiviridae, Rudivirus, Rymovirus,“Sapporo-like viruses,” Satellites, Sequiviridae, Sequivirus,Simplexvirus, Siphoviridae, Sobermovirus, “Soybean chlorotic mottle-likeviruses,” Spiromicrovirus, “SP01-like viruses,” Spumavirus, Suipoxvirus,“Sulfolobus SNDV-like viruses,” “T1-like viruses,” “T4-like viruses,”“T5-like viruses,” “T7-like viruses,” Tectiviridae, Tectivirus,Tenuivirus, Tetraviridae, Thogotovirus, Tobamovirus, Tobravirus,Togaviridae, Tombusviridae, Tombusvirus, Torovirus, Tospovirus,Totiviridae, Totivirus, Trichovirus, Tritimovirus, Tymovirus,Umbravirus, Varicellovirus, Varicosavirus, Vesiculovirus, Vesivirus,Viroids, Vitivirus, Wakavirus, and Yatapoxvirus.

The methods described herein can be used to generate a phage displaylibrary comprising peptides derived from pathogens including, but notlimited to, pathogens from any of the following genera of the domain ofBacteria (or Eubacteria): Abiotrophia, Acetitomaculum, Acetivibrio,Acetoanaerobium, Acetobacter, Acetobacterium, Acetofilamentum,Acetogenium, Acetohalobium, Acetomicrobium, Acetonema, Acetothermus,Acholeplasma, Achromatium, Achromobacter, Acidaminobacter,Acidaminococcus, Acidimicrobium, Acidiphilium, Acidisphaera,Acidithiobacillus, Acidobacterium, Acidocella, Acidomonas, Acidothermus,Acidovorax, Acinetobacter, Acrocarpospora, Actinoalloteichus,Actinobacillus, Actinobaculum, Actinobispora, Actinocorallia,Actinokineospora, Actinomadura, Actinomyces, Actinoplanes,Actinopolymorpha, Actinopolyspora, Actinopycnidium, Actinosporangium,Actinosynnema, Aegyptianella, Aequorivita, Aerococcus, Aeromicrobium,Aeromonas, Afipia, Agitococcus, Agreia, Agrobacterium, Agrococcus,Agromonas, Agromyces, Ahrensia, Albibacter, Albidovulum, Alcaligenes,Alcalilimnicola, Alcanivorax, Algoriphagus, Alicycliphilus,Alicyclobacillus, Alishewanella, Alistipes, Alkalibacterium,Alkalilimnicola, Alkaliphilus, Alkalispirillum, Alkanindiges,Allisonella, Allochromatium, Allofustis, Alloiococcus, Allomonas,Allorhizobium, Alterococcus, Alteromonas, Alysiella, Amaricoccus,Aminobacter, Aminobacterium, Aminomonas, Ammonifex, Ammoniphilus,Amoebobacter, Amorphosphorangium, Amphihbacillus, Ampullariella,Amycolata, Amycolatlopsis, Anaeroarcus, Anaerobacter, Anaerobaculum,Anaerobiospirillum, Anaerobranca, Anaerococcus, Anaerofilum,Anaeroglobus, Anaerolinea, Anaeromusa, Anaeromyxobacter, Anaerophaga,Anaeroplasma, Anaerorhabdus, Anaerosinus, Anaerostipes, Anaerovibrio,Anaerovorax, Anaplasma, Ancalochloris, Ancalomicrohium, Ancylobacter,Aneurinibacillus, Angiococcus, Angulomicrobium, Anoxybacillus,Anoxynatronum, Antarctobacter, Aquabacter, Aquabacterium, Aquamicrobium,Aquaspirillum, Aquifex, Arachnia, Arcanobacterium, Archangium,Arcobacter, Arenibacter Arhodomonas, Arsenophonus, Arthrobacter, Asaia,Asanoa, Asteroleplasma, Asticcacaulis, Atopobacter, Atopobium,Aurantimonas, Aureobacterium, Azoarcus, Azomonas, Azomonotrichon,Azonexus, Azorhizobium, Azorhizophilus, Azospira, Azospirillum,Azotobacter, Azovibrio, Bacillus. Bacterionema, Bacteriovorax,Bacteroides, Bactoderma, Balnearium, Balneatrix, Bartonella,Bdellovibrio, Beggiatoa, Beijerinckia, Beneckea, Bergevella,Beutenbergia, Bifidobacterium, Bilophila, Blastobacter, Blastochloris,Blastococcus, Blastomonas, Blattabacterium, Bogoriella, Bordetella,Borrelia, Bosea, Brachybacterium, Brachymonas, Brachyspira, Brackiella,Bradyrhizobium, Branhamella, Brenneria, Brevibacillus, Brevibacterium,Brevinema, Brevundimonas, Brochothrix, Brucella, Brumimicrobium,Buchnera, Budvicia, Bulleidia, Burkholderia, Buttiauxella, Butyrivibrio,Caedibacter, Caenibacterium, Calderobacterium, Caldicellulosiruptor,Caldilinea, Caldimonas, Caldilhrix, Caloramator, Caloranaerobacter;Calymmatobacterium, Caminibacter, Caminicella, Campvylobacter,Capnocylophaga, Capsularis, Carbophilus, Carboxydibrachium,Carboxydobrachium, Carboxydocella, Carboxydothermus, Cardiobacterium,Carnimonas, Carnobacterium, Caryophanon, Caseobacter, Catellatospora,Catenibacterium, Catenococcus, Catenuloplanes, Catonella, Caulobacter,Cedecea, Cellulomonas, Cellulophaga, Cellulosimicrobium, Cellvibrio,Centipeda, Cetobacterium, Chainia, Chelatobacter, Chelatococcus,Chitinophaga, Chlamydia, Chlamydophila, Chlorobaculum, Chlorobium,Chloroflexus, Chloroherpeton, Chloronema, Chondromyces, Chromatium,Chromobacterium, Chromohalobacter; Chryseobacterium, Chtyseomonas,Chrysiogenes, Citricoccus, Citrobacter; Clavibacter, Clevelandina,Clostridium, Cobetia, Coenonia, Collinsella, Colwellia, Comamonas,Conexibacter, Conglomeromonas, Coprobacillus, Coprococcus,Coprothermobacter, Coriobacterium, Corynebacterium, Couchioplanes,Cowdria, Coxiella, Craurococcus, Crenothrix, Crinalium (not validlypublished), Cristispira, Croceibaclter, Crocinitomix, Crossiella,Cryobacterium, Cryomorpha, Cryptobacterium, Cryptosporangium,Cupriavidus, Curtobacterium, Cyclobacterium, Cycloclasticus,Cystobacter, Cytophaga, Dactylosporangium, Dechloromonas, Dechlorosoma,Deferribacter, Defluvibacter, Dehalobacter, Dehalospirillum,Deinobacter, Deinococcus, Deleva, Delftia, Demetria, Dend spombacter,Denitrobacterium, Denitrovibrio, Dermabacter, Dermacoccus,Dermatophilus, Derxia, Desemzia, Desulfacinum, Desulfilobacterium,Desulfobacca, Desulfobacter, Desulfobacterium, Desulfobacula,Desulfobulbus, Desulfocapsa, Desulfocella, Desulfococcus, Desulfofaha,Desulfofrigus, Desulfofustis, Desulfohalobium, Desulfomicrobium,Desulfomonas, Desulfomonile, Desulfomnusa, Desulfonatronovibrio,Desulfonatronum, Desulfonauticus, Desulfonema, Desulfonispora,Desulforegula, Desulforhabdus, Desulforhopalus, Desulfosarcina,Desulfospira, Desulfosporosinus, Desulfotalea, Desulfotignum,Desulfotomaculum, Desulfovibrio, Desulfovirga, Desulfurella,Desulfurobacterium, Desulfuromonas, Desulfuromusa, Dethiosulf vibrio,Devosia, Dialister, Diaphorobacter, Dichelobacter, Dichotomicrohium,Dictyvoglomus, Dietzia, Diplocalyx, Dolosicoccus, Dolosigranulum, Dorea,Duganella, Dyadobacter, Dvsgonomonas, Ectothiorhodospira, Edwardsiella,Eggerthella, Ehrlichia, Eikenella, Elytrosporangium, Empedobacter,Enhydrobacter, Enhygromyxa, Ensifer, Enterobacter, Enterococcus,Enterovibrio, Entomoplasma, Epeythrozoon, Eremococcus, Erwinia,Ersipelothrix, Erythrbacter, Eivthromicrobium, Erythromonas,Escherichia, Eubacterium, Ewingella, Excellospora, Exiguobacterium,Facklamia, Faecalibacterium, Faenia, Falcivibrio, Ferribacterium,Ferrimonas, Fervidobacterium, Fibrobacter, Filibacter, Filifactot,Filobacillus, Filomicrobium, Finegoldia, Flammeovirga, Flavimonas,Flavobacterium, Flectobacillus, Flexibacter, Flexistipes, Flexithrix,Fluoribacter, Formivibrio, Francisella, Frankia, Frateuria,Friedmanniella, Frigoribacterium, Fulvimarina, Fulvimonas, Fundibacter,Fusibacter, Fusobacterium, Gallibacterium, Gallicola, Gallionella,Garciella, Gardnerella, Gelidibacter, Gelria, Gemella, Gemmata,Gemmatimonas, Gemmiger, Gemmobacter, Geobacillus, Geobacter,Geodermatophilus, Georgenia, Geothrix, Geotoga, Geovibrio, Glaciecola,Globicatella, Gluconacetobacter, Gluconoacetobacter, Gluconobacter,Glvcomvces, Gordonia, Gordonia, Gracilibacillus, Grahamella,Granulicatella, Grimontia, Haemobartonella, Haemophilus, Hafnia,Hahella, Halanaerobacter, Halanaerohium, Haliangium, Haliscomenobacter,Hallella, Haloanaerobacter, Haloanaerobium, Halobacillus,Halobacteroides, Halocella, Halochromatium, Haloincola, Halonicrobium,Halomonas, Halonatronum, Halorhodospira, Halospirulina, Halothermothrix,Halothiobacillus, Halovibrio, Helcococcus, Heliobacillus, Helicobacter,Heliobacterium, Heliophilum, Heliorestis, Heliothrix, Herbaspirillum,Herbidospora, Herpetosiphon, Hippea, Hirschia, Histophilus, Holdemania,Hollandina, Holophaga, Holospora, Hongia, Hydrogenobacter,Hydrogenobaculum, Hydrogenophaga, Hydrogenophilus, Hydrogenothermus,Hydrogenovibrio, Hymenobacter, Hphomicrobium, Hyphomonas, Ideonella,Idiomarina, Ignavigranum, Ilyobacter, Inquilinus, Intrasporangium,Iodobacter, Isohaculum, Isochromatium, Isosphaera, Janibacter,Jannaschia, Janthinobacterium, Jeotgalibacillus, Jeolgalicoccus,Johnsonella, Jonesia, Kerstersia, Ketogulonicigenium, Ketogulonigenium,Kibdelosporangium, Kineococcus, Kineosphaera, Kineosporia, Kingella,Kitasatoa, Kitasatospora, Kitasatosporia, Klebsiella, Kluyvera,Knoellia, Kocuria, Koserella, Kozakia, Kribbella, Kurthia, Kutzneria,Kvlococcus, Labrys, Lachnobacterium, Lachnospira, Laclobacillus,Lactococcus, Laclosphaera, Lamprobacter Lamprocystis, Lampropedia,Laribacter, Lautropia, Lawsonia, Lechevalieria, Leclercia, Legionella,Leifsonia, Leisingera, Leminorella, Lentibacillus, Lentrea, Leptonema,Leptospira, Leptospirillum, Leptothrix, Leptotrichia, Leucobacter,Leuconostoc, Leucothrix, Levinea, Lewinella, Limnobacter, Limnothrix,Listeria, Listonella, Lonepinella, Longispora, Lucibacterium,Luteimonas, Luleococcus, Lvsobacter, Lyticum, Macrococcus, Macromonas,Magnetospirillum, Malonomonas, Mannheimia, Maricaulis, Marichromatium,Marinibacillus, Marinilabilia, Marinilactibacillus, Marinithermus,Marinitoga, Marinobacter, Marinobacterium, Marinococcus, Marinomonas,Alarinospirillum, Marmoricola, Massilia, Megamonas, Megasphaera,Meiothermus, Melissococcus, Melittangium, Meniscus, Mesonia,Mesophilobacter, Mesoplasma, Mesorhizobium, Methylarcula,Methylobacillus, Methylobacter, Methylobacterium, Methylocaldum,Methylocapsa, Methylocella, Methylococcus, Methylocystis,Methylomicrobium, Methylomonas, Methylophaga, Alethylophilus,Alethylopila, Methylorhabdus, Methylosarcina, Methylosinus,Methylosphaera, Methylovorus, Micavibrio, Microbacterium, Microbispora,fMicrobulhifer, Microccus, Microcyclus, Microcystis, Microellobosporia,Microlunatus, Micromonas, Micromonospora, Micropolyspora, Micropruina,Microscilla, Microsphaera, Microtetraspora, Microvirga, MAicrovirgula,Mitsuokella, Mobiluncus, Modestobacter, Moellerella, Mogibacterium,Moorella, Moraxella, Morganella, Moritella, Morococcus, Muricauda,Muricoccus, Mycetocola, Mycobacterium, Mycoplana, Mvcoplasma, Myroides,Myxococcus, Nannocystis, Natroniella, Natronincola, Natronoincola,Nautilia, Neisseria, Neochlamydia, Neorickettsia, Neptunomonas,Nesterenkonia, Nevskia, Nitrobacter, Nitrococcus, Nitrosococcus,Nitrosolobus, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, Nitrospina, Nitrospira,Nocardia, Nocardioides, Nocardiopsis, Nonomuraea, Nonomuria,Notiosphingohium, Ohesumbacterium, Oceanicaulis, Oceanimonas,Oceanisphaera, Oceanithermus, Oceanobacillus, Oceanobacter, Oceanomonas,Oceanospirillum, Ochrobactrum, Octadecabacter, Oenococcus, Oerskovia,Okibacterium, Oleiphilus, Oleispira, Oligella, Oligotropha, Olsenella,Opitutus, Orenia, Oribaculum, Orientia, Ornithinicoccus,Ornithinimicrobium, Ornithobacterium, Oscillochloris, Oscillospira,Oxalicibacterium, Oxalobacter, Oxalophagus, Oxobacter, Paenibacillus,Pandoraea, Pannonibacter, Pantoea, Papillibacter, Parachlamydia,Paracoccus, Paracraurococcus, Paralactobacillus, Paraliobacillus,Parascardovia, Parularcula, Pasteurella, Pasteuria, Paucimonas,Pectinalus, Pectobacterium, Pediococcus, Pedobacter, Pedomicrobium,Pelczaria, Pelistega, Pelobacter, Pelodictyon, Pelospora, Pelotomaculum,Peptococcus, Peptoniphilus, Peptostreptococcus, Persephonella,Persicobacter, Petrotoga, Pfennigia, Phaeospirillum,Phascolarctobacterium, Phenylobacterium, Phocoenobacter, Photobacterium,Photorhabdus, Phyllobacterium, Pigmentiphaga, Pilimelia, Pillotina,Pimelobacter, Pirella, Pirellula, Piscirickettsia, Planctomyces,Planktothricoides, Planktothrix, Planobispora, Planococcus,Planomicrobium, Planomonospora, Planopolyspora, Planotetraspora,Plantibacter, Pleisomonas, Plesiocystis, Plesiomonas, Polaribacler,Polaromonas, Polyangium, Polynucleobacter, Porphyrobacter,Porphyromonas, Pragia, Prauserella, Prevotella, Prochlorococcus,Prochloron, Prochlorothrix, Prolinoborus, Promicromonospora,Propionibacter, Propionibacterium, Propionicimonas, Propioniferax,Propionigenium, Propionimicrobium, Propionispira, Propionispora,Propionivibrio, Prosthecobacter, Prosthecochloris, Prosthecomicrobium,Proteus, Protomonas, Providencia, Pseudaminobacter, Pseudoallteromonas,Pseudoamvcolata, Pseudobhuyrivibrio, Pseudocaedibacter, Pseudomonas,Pseudonocardia, Pseudoramibacter, Pseudorhodobacter, Pseudospirillum,Pseudoxanthomonas, Psychrobacter, Psychroflexus, Psychromonas,Psychroserpens, Quadricoccus, Quinella, Rahnella, Ralstonia,Ramlibacter, Raoultella, Rarobacter, Rathayibacter, Reichenhachia,Renibacterium, Rhabdochromatium, Rheinheimera, Rhizobacter, Rhizohbium,Rhizomonas, Rhodanobacter, Rhodobaca, Rhodobacter, Rhodobium,Rhodoblastus, Rhodocista, Rhodococcus, Rhodocyclus, Rhodoferax,Rhodoglobus, Rhodomicrobium, Rhodopila, Rhodoplanes, Rhodopseudomonas,Rhodospira, Rhodospirillum, Rhodothalassium, Rhodothermus, Rhodovibrio,Rhodovulum, Rickettsia, Rickettsiella, Riemerella, Rikenella,Rochalimaea, Roseateles, Rosebhuria, Roseibium, Roseiflexus,Roseinatronobacter, Roseivitrax, Roseobacter, Roseococcus, Roseomonas,Roseospira, Roseospirillum, Roseovarius, Rothia, Rubrimonas,Rubritepida, Rubrivivax, Rubrobacter, Ruegeria, Rugamonas, Ruminobacter,Ruminococcus, Runella, Saccharobacter, Saccharococcus,Saccharomonospora, Saccharopolyspora, Saccharospirillum, Saccharothrix,Sagittula, Salana, Salegentibacter, Salibacillus, Salinibacter:Salinibacterium, Salinicoccus, Salinisphaera, Salinivibrio, Salmonella,Samsonia, Sandaracinobacter, Sanguibacter, Saprospira, Sarcina,Sarcobium, Scardovia, Schineria, Schlegelella, Schwartzia, Sebaldella,Sedimentibacter, Selenihalanaerobacter, Selenomonas, Seliheria, Serpens,Serpula, Serpulina, Serratia, Shewanella, Shigella, Shuttleworthia,Silicibacter, Simkania, Simonsiella, Sinorhizobium, Skermanella,Skermania, Slackia, Smithella, Sneathia, Sodalis, Soehngenia,Solirubrobacter Solobacterium, Sphaerobacter, Sphaerotilus,Sphingobacterium, Sphingobium, Sphingomonas, Sphingopyxis,Spirilliplanes, Spirillospora, Spirillum, Spirochaeta, Spiroplasma,Spirosoma, Sporanaerobacter, Sporichthya, Sporobacter, Sporobacterium,Sporocytophaga, Sporohalobacter, Sporolactobacillus, Sporonrusa,Sporosarcina, Sporotomaculum, Staleya, Staphylococcus, Stappia,Starkeya, Stella, Stenotrophomonas, Sterolibacterium, Stibiobacter,Stigmatella, Stomatococcus, Streptacidiphilus, Streptimonospora,Streptoalloteichus, Streptobacillus, Streptococcus, Streptomonospora,Streptomyces: S. ahikoensis, S. erumpens, S. erythraeus, S.michiganensis, S. microilavus, S. zaomyceticus, Streptosporangium,Streptoverticillium, Subtercola, Succiniclasticum, Succinimonas,Succinispira, Succinivibrio, Sulfitobacter, Sulfobacillus,Sulfurihydrogenibium, Sulfurimonas, Sulfurospirillum, Sutterella,Suttonella, Symbiobacterium, Svymbhiotes, Synergistes, Syntrophobacter,Syntrophobotulus, Syntrophococcus, Syntrophomonas, Syntrophosphora,Syntrophothermus, Syntrophus, Tannerella, Tatlockia, Tatumella,Taylorella, Tectibacter Teichococcus Telluria, Tenacibaculum,Tepidibacter, Tepidimonas, Tepidiphilus, Terasakiella, Teredinibacter,Terrabacter, Terracoccus, Tessaracoccus, Tetragenococcus, Tetrasphaera,Thalassomonas, Thalassospira, Thauera, Thermacetogenium, Thermaerobacer,Thermanaeromonas, Thermanaerovibrio, Thermicanus, Thermithiobacillus,Thermoactinonmyces, Thermoanaerobacter, Thermoanaerobacterium,Thermoanaerobium, Thermobacillus, Thermobacteroides, Thermobifida,Thermobispora, Thermobrachium, Thetmochromatium, Thermocrinis,Thermocrispum, Thermodesulfobacterium, Thermodesulforhabdus,Thermodesulfovibrio, Thermohalobacter, Thermohydrogenium,Thermoleophilum, Thermomicrobium, Thermomonas, Thermomonospora,Thermonema, Thermosipho, Thermosyntropha, Thermoterrabacterium,Thermothrix, Thermotoga, Thermovenabulum, Thermovibrio, Thermus,Thialkalicoccus, Thialkalimicrobium, Thialkalivibrio, Thioalkalicoccus,Thioalkalimicrobhium, Thioalkalispira, Thioalkalivibrio, Thiobaca,Thiobacillus, Thiobacterium, Thiocapsa, Thiococcus, Thiocystis,Thiodictyon, Thioflavicoccus, Thiohalocapsa, Thiolamprovum,Thiomargarita, Thiomicrospira, Thiomonas, Thiopedia, Thioploca,Thiorhodococcus, Thiorhodospira, Thiorhodovibrio, Thiosphaera,Thiospira, Thiospirillum, Thiothrix, Thiodulum, Tindallia, Tissierella,Tistrella, Tolumonas, Toxothrr, Trabulsiella, Treponema,Trichlorobacter, Trichococcus, Tropheryma, Tsukamurella, Turicella,Turicibacter, Tychonema, Ureaplasma, Ureibacillus, Vagococcus,Vampirovibrio, Varibaculum, Variovorax, Veillonella, Verrucomicrobium,Verrucosispora, Vibrio, Victivallis, Virgibacillus, Virgisporangium,Virgosporangium, Vitellibacter, Vitreoscilla, Vogesella, Volcaniella,Vulcanithermus, Waddlia, Weeksella, Weissella, Wigglesworthia,Williamsia, Wolbachia, Wolinella, Xanthobacter, Xanthomonas, Xenophilus,Xenorhabdus, Xylanimonas, Xylella, Xylophilus, Yersinia, Yokenella,Zavarzinia, Zobellia, Zoogloea, Zooshikella, Zymobacter, Zymomonas, andZymophilus.

Production of a Phage Display Library

General methods for producing a phage display library are known to thoseof skill in the art and/or are described in e.g., Larman et al. (2011)Nature Biotechnology 29(6):535-541, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

Contemplated herein are phage display libraries that comprise aplurality of peptides derived from a plurality of pathogens, such asbacteria, fungi, or viruses. In one embodiment, it is contemplatedherein that the plurality of peptides will represent a substantiallycomplete set of peptides from a group of viruses, bacteria, or fungi(e.g., all pathogenic viruses, bacteria or fungi). In one embodiment,the phage display library comprises a substantially complete set ofpeptides from viruses known to infect humans (or a subgroup thereof).Similarly, phage display libraries comprising a substantially completeset of peptides from pathogenic bacteria (or a subgroup thereof) orpathogenic fungi (or a subgroup thereof) are also contemplated herein.As used herein, the term “subgroup” refers to a related grouping ofviruses, bacteria or fungi that would benefit from simultaneous testing.For example, one of skill in the art can generate a phage displaylibrary comprising a substantially complete set of peptides from a genusof pathogens (e.g., a subgroup of virus, such as the Herpes genus). Sucha library would permit one of skill in the art to distinguish betweenhighly related pathogens in an antibody sample.

In some embodiments, the phage display library comprises less than10,000 peptide sequences. In other embodiments, the phage displaylibrary comprises less than 9000, less than 8000, less than 7000, lessthan 6000, less than 5000, less than 4000, less than 3000, less than2000, less than 1000, less than 750, less than 500, less than 250, lessthan 100, less than 50 or less than 25 peptide sequences. In otherembodiments, the phage display library comprises at least 100, at least200, at least 500, at least 1000, at least 5000, at least 10,000 peptidesequences or more. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill inthe art that as the length of the individual peptide sequences increase,the total number of peptide sequences in the library can decreasewithout loss of any pathogen sequences (and vice versa).

In some embodiments, the phage display library comprises peptidesderived from at least 10 protein sequences (e.g., viral proteinsequences), at least 20 protein sequences, at least 30 proteinsequences, at least 40 protein sequences, at least 50 protein sequences,at least 60 protein sequences, at least 70 protein sequences, at least80 protein sequences, at least 90 protein sequences, at least 100protein sequences, at least 200 protein sequences, at least 300 proteinsequences, at least 400 protein sequences, at least 500 proteinsequences, at least 600 protein sequences, at least 700 proteinsequences, at least 800 protein sequences, at least 900 proteinsequences, at least 1000 protein sequences, at least 2000 proteinsequences, at least 3000 protein sequences, at least 4000 proteinsequences, at least 5000 protein sequences, at least 6000 proteinsequences, at least 6500 protein sequences, at least 7000 proteinsequences, at least 7500 protein sequences, at least 8000 proteinsequences, at least 8500 protein sequences, at least 9000 proteinsequences, at least 10,000 protein sequences or more.

In some embodiments, the phage display library comprises a plurality ofproteins sequence that have less than 90% shared identity; in otherembodiments the plurality of protein sequences have less than 85% sharedidentity, less than 80% shared identity, less than 75% shared identity,less than 70% shared identity, less than 65% shared identity, less than60% shared identity, less than 55% shared identity, less than 50% sharedidentity or even less.

In some embodiments, the phage display library comprises proteinsequences from at least 3 unique pathogens or at least 5 uniquepathogens (e.g., 5 unique viruses, 5 unique bacteria, or 5 uniquefungi); in other embodiments the library comprises protein sequencesfrom at least 10, at least 20, at least 50, at least 75, at least 100,at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, atleast 700, at least 800, at least 900, at least 1000 unique pathogens upto and including protein sequences from all viruses, bacteria, or fungiknown to cause disease in a human or other mammal.

In some embodiments, the protein sequences of the phage display libraryare at least 10 amino acids long; in other embodiments the proteinsequences are at least 20, at least 30, at least 40, at least 50, atleast 60, at least 70, at least 80, at least 90, at least 100, at least150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least400, at least 450 amino acids or more in length.

In some embodiments, each peptide of the phage library will overlap atleast one other peptide by at least 5 amino acids. In other embodiments,each peptide of the phage library will overlap at least one otherpeptide by at least 10, at least 15, at least 20, at least 21, at least22, at least 23, at least 24, at least 25, at least 26, at least 27, atleast 28, at least 29, at least 30, at least 32, at least 35, at least40 amino acids or more.

Reaction Samples

As used herein, the term “reaction sample” refers to a sample that, at aminimum, comprises a phage display library, for example, the phagedisplay library described herein. The reaction sample can also compriseadditional buffers, salts, osmotic agents, etc. to facilitate theformation of complexes between the peptides in the phage display librarywhen the reaction sample is contacted with a biological samplecomprising an antibody. A “biological sample” as that term is usedherein refers to a fluid or tissue sample derived from a subject thatcomprises or is suspected of comprising at least one antibody.

A biological sample can be obtained from any organ or tissue in theindividual to be tested, provided that the biological sample comprises,or is suspected of comprising, an antibody. Typically the biologicalsample will comprise a blood sample, however other biological samplesare contemplated herein, for example, cerebrospinal fluid.

In some embodiments, a biological sample is treated to remove cells orother biological particulates. Methods for removing cells from a bloodor other biological sample are well known in the art and can includee.g., centrifugation, ultrafiltration, immune selection, orsedimentation etc. Antibodies can be detected from a biological sampleor a sample that has been treated as described above or as known tothose of skill in the art. Some non-limiting examples of biologicalsamples include a blood sample, a urine sample, a semen sample, alymphatic fluid sample, a cerebrospinal fluid sample, a plasma sample, aserum sample, a pus sample, an amniotic fluid sample, a bodily fluidsample, a stool sample, a biopsy sample, a needle aspiration biopsysample, a swab sample, a mouthwash sample, a cancer sample, a tumorsample, a tissue sample, a cell sample, a synovial fluid sample, or acombination of such samples. For the methods described herein, it ispreferred that a biological sample is from whole blood, plasma, cerebralspinal fluid, serum, and/or urine. In one embodiment, the biologicalsample is cerebrospinal fluid.

In some embodiments, samples can be obtained from an individual with adisease or pathological condition. In one embodiment, the disease orpathological condition is one that is suspected of having a commonviral, bacterial or fungal origin. Some exemplary disease orpathological conditions include, but not limited to: a blood disorder,blood lipid disease, autoimmune disease, bone or joint disorder, acardiovascular disorder, respiratory disease, endocrine disorder, immunedisorder, infectious disease, muscle wasting and whole body wastingdisorder, neurological disorders including neurodegenerative and/orneuropsychiatric diseases, skin disorder, kidney disease, scleroderma,stroke, hereditary hemorrhage telangiectasia, diabetes (e.g., Type I orType II diabetes), disorders associated with diabetes (e.g., PVD),hypertension, Gaucher's disease, Kawasaki disease. Bell's palsy,Meniere's disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, chronic fatiguesyndrome, Gulf War illness, Myasthenia Gravis, IgG4 disease, cysticfibrosis, sickle cell anemia, liver disease, pancreatic disease, eye,ear, nose and/or throat disease, diseases affecting the reproductiveorgans, gastrointestinal diseases (including diseases of the colon,diseases of the spleen, appendix, gall bladder, and others) and thelike. For further discussion of human diseases, see MendelianInheritance in Man: A Catalog of Human Genes and Genetic Disorders byVictor A. McKusick (12th Edition (3 volume set) June 1998, Johns HopkinsUniversity Press, ISBN: 0801857422), the entirety of which isincorporated herein. Preferably, samples from a normal demographicallymatched individual and/or from a non-disease sample from a patienthaving the disease are used in the analysis to provide controls. Thesamples can comprise a plurality of cells from individuals sharing atrait. For example, the trait shared can be gender, age, pathology,predisposition to a pathology, exposure to an infectious disease (e.g.,HIV), kinship, death from the same disease, treatment with the samedrug, exposure to chemotherapy, exposure to radiotherapy, exposure tohormone therapy, exposure to surgery, exposure to the same environmentalcondition (e.g., such as carcinogens, pollutants, asbestos, TCE,perchlorate, benzene, chloroform, nicotine and the like), the samegenetic alteration or group of alterations, expression of the same geneor sets of genes (e.g., samples can be from individuals sharing a commonhaplotype, such as a particular set of HLA alleles), and the like.

Removal of Unbound Phage

In some embodiments, the methods and assays described herein comprise astep of contacting modified bacteriophage or the phage display libraryas described herein with a biological sample that comprises, or issuspected of comprising, at least one antibody. Any antiviral antibodiespresent in the biological sample will bind to bacteriophage(s) thatdisplay the cognate antigen.

In certain embodiments, it is desirable to separate the bacteriophage(s)bound to an antibody in the biological sample from any freebacteriophage(s) that are not bound to an antibody in the sample. In oneembodiment, antibodies from the reaction sample are immobilized on asolid support to permit one to separate out the unbound phage. Antibodyimmobilization can be achieved using methods routine to those ofordinary skill in the art. Essentially any method that permits one tospecifically immobilize IgM, IgA, or IgG subclasses (e.g., IgG4) can beused to immobilize antibodies from the sample, including antibodies thatare complexed to one or more bacteriophage. In some embodiments, ProteinA. Protein G or a combination thereof is/are used to immobilize theantibody to permit removal of unbound phage. Such methods are known tothose of ordinary skill in the art and as such are not described indetail herein.

In some embodiments, the peptide or protein used to immobilizeantibodies from the reaction mixture can be attached to a solid support,such as, for example, magnetic beads (e.g., micron-sized magneticbeads), Sepharose beads, agarose beads, a nitrocellulose membrane, anylon membrane, a column chromatography matrix, a high performanceliquid chromatography (HPLC) matrix or a fast performance liquidchromatography (FPLC) matrix for purification. For example, the reactionmixture comprising bacteriophage and antibodies can be contacted withmagnetic beads coated with Protein A and/or Protein G. The Protein A andG will bind to antibodies in the mixture and immobilize them on thebeads. This process also immobilizes any phage particles bound by theantibodies. In one embodiment, a magnet can be used to separate theimmobilized phage from unbound phage.

As used herein, the term “Magnetic bead” means any solid support that isattracted by a magnetic field; such solid supports include, withoutlimitation, DYNABEADS™, BIOMAG™ Streptavidin, MPG7 Streptavidin,Streptavidin MAGNESPHERE™, Streptavidin Magnetic Particles, AFFINITIP™,any of the MAGA™ line of magnetizable particles, BIOMAG™Superparamagnetic Particles, or any other magnetic bead to which amolecule (e.g., an oligonucleotide primer) may be attached orimmobilized.

Peptide Detection

Following a step to remove any unbound phage, the peptides in the boundphage/antibody complexes can be identified using e.g., PCR. Although notnecessary, the bound phage/antibody complexes can first be released fromthe solid support using appropriate conditions e.g., temperature, pH,etc. In some embodiments, the sample is subjected to conditions thatwill permit lysis of the phage (e.g., heat denaturation). In oneembodiment, the nucleic acids from the lysed phage is subjected to anamplification reaction, such as a PCR reaction. In one embodiment, thenucleic acids encoding a phage-displayed peptide comprise a commonadapter sequence for PCR amplification. In such embodiments, a PCRprimer is designed to bind to the common adapter sequence foramplification of the DNA corresponding to a phage-displayed peptide.

In some embodiments, a detectable label is used in the amplificationreaction to permit detection of different amplification products. Asused herein, “label” or “detectable label” refers to any atom ormolecule which can be used to provide a detectable (preferablyquantifiable) signal, and which can be operatively linked to apolynucleotide, such as a PCR primer. Labels may provide signalsdetectable by fluorescence, radioactivity, colorimetry, gravimetry,X-ray diffraction or absorption, magnetism, enzymatic activity, massspectrometry, binding affinity, hybridization radiofrequency,nanocrystals and the like. A primer of the present invention may belabeled so that the amplification reaction product may be “detected” by“detecting” the detectable label. “Qualitative or quantitative”detection refers to visual or automated assessments based upon themagnitude (strength) or number of signals generated by the label. Alabeled polynucleotide (e.g., an oligonucleotide primer) according tothe methods of the invention can be labeled at the 5′ end, the 3′ end,or both ends, or internally. The label can be “direct”, e.g., a dye, or“indirect”, e.g., biotin, digoxin, alkaline phosphatase (AP), horseradish peroxidase (HRP). For detection of “indirect labels” it isnecessary to add additional components such as labeled antibodies, orenzyme substrates to visualize the captured, released, labeledpolynucleotide fragment. In a preferred embodiment, an oligonucleotideprimer is labeled with a fluorescent label. Suitable fluorescent labelsinclude fluorochromes such as rhodamine and derivatives (such as TexasRed), fluorescein and derivatives (such as 5-bromomethyl fluorescein),Lucifer Yellow, IAEDANS, 7-Me.sub.2N-coumarin-4-acetate,7-OH-4-CH₃-coumarin-3-acetate, 7-NH.sub.2-4-CH₃-coumarin-3-acetate(AMCA), monobromobimane, pyrene trisulfonates, such as Cascade Blue, andmonobromorimethyl-ammoniobimane (see for example, DeLuca,Immunofluorescence Analysis, in Antibody As a Tool, Marchalonis, et al.,eds., John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., (1982), which is incorporated herein byreference).

The methods described herein can benefit from the use of labelsincluding, e.g., fluorescent labels. In one aspect, the fluorescentlabel can be a label or dye that intercalates into or otherwiseassociates with amplified (usually double-stranded) nucleic acidmolecules to give a signal. One stain useful in such embodiments is SYBRGreen (e.g., SYBR Green I or II, commercially available from MolecularProbes Inc., Eugene, Oreg.). Others known to those of skill in the artcan also be employed in the methods described herein. An advantage ofthis approach is reduced cost relative to the use of, for example,labeled nucleotides.

As used herein, the term “amplified product” refers to polynucleotideswhich are copies of a portion of a particular polynucleotide sequenceand/or its complementary sequence, which correspond in nucleotidesequence to the template polynucleotide sequence and its complementarysequence. An “amplified product,” can be DNA or RNA, and it may bedouble-stranded or single-stranded.

Exemplary Methods for Peptide Detection

In an exemplary embodiment, the phage are lysed by heat denaturation andPCR is used to amplify the DNA region corresponding to the displayedpeptide sequence. One of the PCR primers contains a common adaptorsequence which can be amplified in a second PCR reaction by another setof primers to prepare the DNA for ILLUMINA™ high throughput sequence.Unique barcoded oligonucleotides in the second PCR reaction are used toamplify different samples and pool them together in one sequencing runto e.g., reduce cost and/or permit simultaneous detection of multiplephage-displayed peptides.

High-Throughput Systems

In certain embodiments, the detection of a phage-displayed peptidecomprises high throughput detection of a plurality of peptidessimultaneously, or near simultaneously. In some embodiments, thehigh-throughput systems use methods similar to DNA sequencingtechniques.

A number of DNA sequencing techniques are known in the art, includingfluorescence-based sequencing methodologies (See, e.g., Birren et al.,Genome Analysis: Analyzing DNA, 1, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). In someembodiments, automated sequencing techniques understood in the art areutilized. In some embodiments, the high-throughput systems describedherein use methods that provide parallel sequencing of partitionedamplicons (e.g., WO2006084132). In some embodiments, DNA sequencing isachieved by parallel oligonucleotide extension (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No.5,750,341, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,597). Additional examples ofsequencing techniques include the Church polony technology (Mitra etal., 2003, Analytical Biochemistry 320, 55-65; Shendure et al., 2005Science 309, 1728-1732; U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,360, U.S. Pat. No.6,485,944, U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,803), the 454 picotiter pyrosequencingtechnology (Margulies et al., 2005 Nature 437, 376-380; US 20050130173),the Solexa single base addition technology (Bennett et al., 2005,Pharmacogenomics, 6, 373-382; U.S. Pat. No. 6,787,308; U.S. Pat. No.6,833,246), the Lynx massively parallel signature sequencing technology(Brenner et al. (2000). Nat. Biotechnol. 18:630-634; U.S. Pat. No.5,695,934; U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,330), and the Adessi PCR colonytechnology (Adessi et al. (2000). Nucleic Acid Res. 28, E87; WO00018957).

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods share the common feature ofmassively parallel, high-throughput strategies, with the goal of lowercosts in comparison to older sequencing methods (see, e.g., Voelkerdinget al., Clinical Chem., 55: 641-658, 2009: MacLean et al., Nature Rev.Microbiol., 7:287-296). NGS methods can be broadly divided into thosethat typically use template amplification and those that do not.Amplification-requiring methods include pyrosequencing commercialized byRoche as the 454 technology platforms (e.g., GS 20 and GS FLX), theSolexa platform commercialized by ILLUMINA™, and the SupportedOligonucleotide Ligation and Detection™ (SOLiD) platform commercializedby APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS™. Non-amplification approaches, also known assingle-molecule sequencing, are exemplified by the HELISCOPE™ platformcommercialized by HELICOS BIOSYSTEMS™, and emerging platformscommercialized by VISIGEN™, OXFORD NANOPORE TECHNOLOGIES LTD., andPACIFIC BIOSCIENCES™, respectively.

In pyrosequencing (Voelkerding et al, Clinical Chem., 55: 641-658, 2009;MacLean et al., Nature Rev. Microbial., 7:287-296; U.S. Pat. No.6,210,891; U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,568), template DNA is fragmented,end-repaired, ligated to adaptors, and clonally amplified in-situ bycapturing single template molecules with beads bearing oligonucleotidescomplementary to the adaptors. Each bead bearing a single template typeis compartmentalized into a water-in-oil microvesicle, and the templateis clonally amplified using a technique referred to as emulsion PCR. Theemulsion is disrupted after amplification and beads are deposited intoindividual wells of a picotitre plate functioning as a flow cell duringthe sequencing reactions. Ordered, iterative introduction of each of thefour dNTP reagents occurs in the flow cell in the presence of sequencingenzymes and luminescent reporter such as luciferase. In the event thatan appropriate dNTP is added to the 3′ end of the sequencing primer, theresulting production of ATP causes a burst of luminescence within thewell, which is recorded using a CCD camera. It is possible to achieveread lengths greater than or equal to 400 bases, and 10⁶ sequence readscan be achieved, resulting in up to 500 million base pairs (Mb) ofsequence.

In the SOLEXA/ILLUMINA platform (Voelkerding et al., Clinical Chem., 55.641-658, 2009: MacLean et al., Nature Rev. Microbial., 7:287-296; U.S.Pat. No. 6,833,246; U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,400; U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,488),sequencing data are produced in the form of shorter-length reads. Inthis method, single-stranded fragmented DNA is end-repaired to generate5′-phosphorylated blunt ends, followed by Klenow-mediated addition of asingle A base to the 3′ end of the fragments. A-addition facilitatesaddition of T-overhang adaptor oligonucleotides, which are subsequentlyused to capture the template-adaptor molecules on the surface of a flowcell that is studded with oligonucleotide anchors. The anchor is used asa PCR primer, but because of the length of the template and itsproximity to other nearby anchor oligonucleotides, extension by PCRresults in the “arching over” of the molecule to hybridize with anadjacent anchor oligonucleotide to form a bridge structure on thesurface of the flow cell. These loops of DNA are denatured and cleaved.Forward strands are then sequenced with reversible dye terminators. Thesequence of incorporated nucleotides is determined by detection ofpost-incorporation fluorescence, with each fluor and block removed priorto the next cycle of dNTP addition. Sequence read length ranges from 36nucleotides to over 50 nucleotides, with overall output exceeding Ibillion nucleotide pairs per analytical run.

Sequencing nucleic acid molecules using SOLID™ technology (Voelkerdinget al., Clinical Chem., 55: 641-658, 2009; MacLean et al., Nature Rev.Microbial., 7:287-296: U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,148; U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,073)also involves fragmentation of the template, ligation to oligonucleotideadaptors, attachment to beads, and clonal amplification by emulsion PCR.Following this, beads bearing template are immobilized on a derivatizedsurface of a glass flow-cell, and a primer complementary to the adaptoroligonucleotide is annealed. However, rather than utilizing this primerfor 3′ extension, it is instead used to provide a 5′ phosphate group forligation to interrogation probes containing two probe-specific basesfollowed by 6 degenerate bases and one of four fluorescent labels. Inthe SOLID™ system, interrogation probes have 16 possible combinations ofthe two bases at the 3′ end of each probe, and one of four fluors at the5′ end. Fluor color, and thus identity of each probe, corresponds tospecified color-space coding schemes. Multiple rounds (usually 7) ofprobe annealing, ligation, and fluor detection are followed bydenaturation, and then a second round of sequencing using a primer thatis offset by one base relative to the initial primer. In this manner,the template sequence can be computationally re-constructed, andtemplate bases are interrogated twice, resulting in increased accuracy.Sequence read length averages 35 nucleotides, and overall output exceeds4 billion bases per sequencing run.

In certain embodiments, nanopore sequencing is employed (see, e.g.,Astier et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006 Feb. 8; 128(5)1705-10). The theorybehind nanopore sequencing has to do with what occurs when a nanopore isimmersed in a conducting fluid and a potential (voltage) is appliedacross it. Under these conditions a slight electric current due toconduction of ions through the nanopore can be observed, and the amountof current is exceedingly sensitive to the size of the nanopore. As eachbase of a nucleic acid passes through the nanopore, this causes a changein the magnitude of the current through the nanopore that is distinctfor each of the four bases, thereby allowing the sequence of the DNAmolecule to be determined.

In certain embodiments, HELISCOPE™ by HELICOS BIOSCIENCES™ is employed(Voelkerding et al., Clinical Chem., 55. 641-658, 2009; MacLean et al.,Nature Rev. Microbial, 7:287-296; U.S. Pat. No. 7,169,560; U.S. Pat. No.7,282,337; U.S. Pat. No. 7,482,120; U.S. Pat. No. 7,501,245; U.S. Pat.No. 6,818,395; U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,345; U.S. Pat. No. 7,501,245).Template DNA is fragmented and polyadenylated at the 3′ end, with thefinal adenosine bearing a fluorescent label. Denatured polyadenylatedtemplate fragments are ligated to poly(dT) oligonucleotides on thesurface of a flow cell. Initial physical locations of captured templatemolecules are recorded by a CCD camera, and then label is cleaved andwashed away. Sequencing is achieved by addition of polymerase and serialaddition of fluorescently-labeled dNTP reagents. Incorporation eventsresult in fluor signal corresponding to the dNTP, and signal is capturedby a CCD camera before each round of dNTP addition. Sequence read lengthranges from 25-50 nucleotides, with overall output exceeding 1 billionnucleotide pairs per analytical run.

The Ion Torrent technology is a method of DNA sequencing based on thedetection of hydrogen ions that are released during the polymerizationof DNA (see. e.g., Science 327(5970): 1190 (2010); U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub.Nos. 20090026082, 20090127589, 20100301398, 20100197507, 20100188073,and 20100137143). A microwell contains a template DNA strand to besequenced. Beneath the layer of microwells is a hypersensitive ISFET ionsensor. All layers are contained within a CMOS semiconductor chip,similar to that used in the electronics industry. When a dNTP isincorporated into the growing complementary strand a hydrogen ion isreleased, which triggers a hypersensitive ion sensor. If homopolymerrepeats are present in the template sequence, multiple dNTP moleculeswill be incorporated in a single cycle. This leads to a correspondingnumber of released hydrogens and a proportionally higher electronicsignal. This technology differs from other sequencing technologies inthat no modified nucleotides or optics are used. The per base accuracyof the Ion Torrent sequencer is .about.99.6% for 50 base reads, with˜100 Mb generated per run. The read-length is 100 base pairs. Theaccuracy for homopolymer repeats of 5 repeats in length is ˜98%.

Another exemplary nucleic acid sequencing approach that CAN be adaptedfor use with the methods described herein was developed by STRATOSGENOMICS, Inc. and involves the use of XPANDOMERS™. This sequencingprocess typically includes providing a daughter strand produced by atemplate-directed synthesis. The daughter strand generally includes aplurality of subunits coupled in a sequence corresponding to acontiguous nucleotide sequence of all or a portion of a target nucleicacid in which the individual subunits comprise a tether, at least oneprobe or nucleobase residue, and at least one selectively cleavablebond. The selectively cleavable bond(s) is/are cleaved to yield anXPANDOMER™ of a length longer than the plurality of the subunits of thedaughter strand. The XPANDOMER™ typically includes the tethers andreporter elements for parsing genetic information in a sequencecorresponding to the contiguous nucleotide sequence of all or a portionof the target nucleic acid. Reporter elements of the XPANDOMER™ are thendetected. Additional details relating to XPANDOMER™-based approaches aredescribed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Pub No. 20090035777, entitled “HIGHTHROUGHPUT NUCLEIC ACID SEQUENCING BY EXPANSION,” filed Jun. 19, 2008,which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

Other emerging single molecule sequencing methods include real-timesequencing by synthesis using a VISIGEN™ platform (Voelkerding et al.,Clinical Chem., 55: 641-58, 2009; U.S. Pat. No. 7,329,492; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/671,956; U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/781,166) in which immobilized, primed DNA template is subjected tostrand extension using a fluorescently-modified polymerase andflorescent acceptor molecules, resulting in detectible fluorescenceresonance energy transfer (FRET) upon nucleotide addition.

Another real-time single molecule sequencing system developed by PACIFICBIOSCIENCES™ (Voelkerding et al., Clinical Chem., 55. 641-658, 2009;MacLean et al., Nature Rev. Microbiol., 7:287-296; U.S. Pat. No.7,170,050; U.S. Pat. No. 7,302,146; U.S. Pat. No. 7,313,308; U.S. Pat.No. 7,476,503) utilizes reaction wells 50-100 nm in diameter andencompassing a reaction volume of approximately 20 zeptoliters (10⁻²¹L). Sequencing reactions are performed using immobilized template,modified phi29 DNA polymerase, and high local concentrations offluorescently labeled dNTPs. High local concentrations and continuousreaction conditions allow incorporation events to be captured in realtime by fluor signal detection using laser excitation, an opticalwaveguide, and a CCD camera.

In certain embodiments, the single molecule real time (SMRT) DNAsequencing methods using zero-mode waveguides (ZMWs) developed byPacific Biosciences, or similar methods, are employed. With thistechnology, DNA sequencing is performed on SMRT chips, each containingthousands of zero-mode waveguides (ZMWs). A ZMW is a hole, tens ofnanometers in diameter, fabricated in a 100 nm metal film deposited on asilicon dioxide substrate. Each ZMW becomes a nanophotonic visualizationchamber providing a detection volume of just 20 zeptoliters (10⁻²¹ L).At this volume, the activity of a single molecule can be detectedamongst a background of thousands of labeled nucleotides. The ZMWprovides a window for watching DNA polymerase as it performs sequencingby synthesis. Within each chamber, a single DNA polymerase molecule isattached to the bottom surface such that it permanently resides withinthe detection volume. Phospholinked nucleotides, each type labeled witha different colored fluorophore, are then introduced into the reactionsolution at high concentrations which promote enzyme speed, accuracy,and processivity. Due to the small size of the ZMW, even at these high,biologically relevant concentrations, the detection volume is occupiedby nucleotides only a small fraction of the time. In addition, visits tothe detection volume are fast, lasting only a few microseconds, due tothe very small distance that diffusion has to carry the nucleotides. Theresult is a very low background.

Processes and systems for such real time sequencing that can be adaptedfor use with the methods described herein include, for example, U.S.Pat. No. 7,405,281, U.S. Pat. No. 7,315,019, U.S. Pat. No. 7,313,308,U.S. Pat. No. 7,302,146, U.S. Pat. No. 7,170,050, U.S. Pat. Pub. Nos.20080212960, 20080206764, 20080199932, 20080176769, 20080176316,20080176241, 20080165346, 20080160531, 20080157005, 20080153100,20080153095, 20080152281, 20080152280, 20080145278, 20080128627,20080108082, 20080095488, 20080080059, 20080050747, 20080032301,20080030628, 20080009007, 20070238679, 20070231804, 20070206187,20070196846, 20070188750, 20070161017, 20070141598, 20070134128,20070128133, 20070077564, 20070072196. 20070036511, and Korlach et al.(2008) PNAS 105(4): 1176-81, all of which are herein incorporated byreference in their entireties.

Subsequently, in some embodiments, the data produced comprises sequencedata from multiple barcoded DNAs. Using the known association betweenthe barcode and the source of the DNA, the data can be deconvoluted toassign sequences to the source subjects, samples, organisms, etc. Thesequences are mapped, in some embodiments, to a reference DNA sequence(e.g., a chromosome) and genotypes are assigned to the source subjects,samples, organisms, etc., e.g., by modeling, e.g., by a Hidden MarkovModel.

Some embodiments provide a processor, data storage, data transfer, andsoftware comprising instructions to assign genotypes. Some embodimentsof the technology provided herein further comprise functionalities forcollecting, storing, and/or analyzing data. For example, someembodiments comprise the use of a processor, a memory, and/or a databasefor, e.g., storing and executing instructions, analyzing data,performing calculations using the data, transforming the data, andstoring the data. In some embodiments, the processor is configured tocalculate a function of data derived from the sequences and/or genotypesdetermined. In some embodiments, the processor performs instructions insoftware configured for medical or clinical results reporting and insome embodiments the processor performs instructions in software tosupport non-clinical results reporting.

In some embodiments, the detection of a phage-displayed peptidecomprises PCR with barcoded oligonucleotides. As used herein, the term“barcode” refers to a unique oligonucleotide sequence that allows acorresponding nucleic acid base and/or nucleic acid sequence to beidentified. In certain aspects, the nucleic acid base and/or nucleicacid sequence is located at a specific position on a largerpolynucleotide sequence (e.g., a polynucleotide covalently attached to abead). In certain embodiments, barcodes can each have a length within arange of from 4 to 36 nucleotides, or from 6 to 30 nucleotides, or from8 to 20 nucleotides. In certain aspects, the melting temperatures ofbarcodes within a set are within 10° C. of one another, within 5° C. ofone another, or within 2° C. of one another. In other aspects, barcodesare members of a minimally cross-hybridizing set. That is, thenucleotide sequence of each member of such a set is sufficientlydifferent from that of every other member of the set that no member canform a stable duplex with the complement of any other member understringent hybridization conditions. In one aspect, the nucleotidesequence of each member of a minimally cross-hybridizing set differsfrom those of every other member by at least two nucleotides.

Barcode technologies are known in the art and are described in e.g.,Winzeler et al. (1999) Science 285:901; Brenner (2000) Genome Biol. 1:1Kumar et al. (2001) Nature Rev. 2:302; Giaever et al. (2004) Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA 101:793; Eason et al. (2004) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA101:11046; and Brenner (2004) Genome Biol. 5:240.

Contemplated Applications of the Phage Display Library

The described technology allows for detection of such past (e.g.,resolved or unresolved infections) or ongoing infection by detectinghost antibody response to a pathogen such as a virus, bacteria, orfungi. Using the described systems and methods, wherein a comprehensivepeptide phage library can capture virtually all host generatedantibodies, the simultaneous detection of the complete antiviralantibody responses as an indicator of virus infection against virtuallyall known viruses capable of infecting humans. Uniquely, becauseantibody response persist for long periods of time, this approachfurther allows for detection of prior exposure, where an infection hasbeen contained. These responses can therefore be used as an indicatornot only a person person's past ongoing infections, but resolved ones aswell.

In addition to the aforementioned diagnostic uses, this technologyfurther provides a mechanism to identify viral correlates or causes ofdisease. Many diseases suspected have a viral cause, but withoutpositive identification of a responsible pathogen. Examples includeKawasaki Disease, Bell's Palsy, Meniere's Disease, Type I Diabetes andJuvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. In each of these diseases and/ordysfunctional conditions, viral correlates of onset or severity havebeen suggested, but a pathogenic origin cannot be identified due to thelack of system-wide screening techniques for viral exposure, andresearchers must rely on piecemeal detection schemes in order to narrowdown possible disease-causing agents. In contrast, the described systemsand methods provide not only a systematic approach to compare antiviralresponses in patient and control sera to identify viral correlates ofdisease, but across virtually all viruses known to infect humans,allowing for a much improved route for identifying responsiblepathogens.

In addition, the detection of antiviral antibody responses in subjectsfurther allows identification of critical antigen peptide epitopes. Thehigh-throughput nature of the described technology also allows rapid andwide-scale detection of such signatures across various subjects, therebyproviding means for mapping of antiviral antibody epitopes acrosspopulations, which is not possible with existing technology. In additionto aiding antibody design for therapy, this information further allowsidentification of potential cross-reactivity with human antigens, a keysource of autoimmune disease generation.

Importantly, a critical aspect of establishing programmable microarraysto include viral peptides is generation of an appropriateoligonucleotide sequence set for library generation. Importantly,wide-scale, parallel detection of viral antigens is particularlychallenging, given their highly adaptive evolutionary nature andcomparatively small antigenic signature compared to a library of humanpeptides, as one example. As unique library members may provide onlyshort differences in antigenic sequence, the Inventors have improvedalgorithms for designing oligonucleotide sequences from parental proteinsequences using randomized codons to minimize redundancy, and in orderto increase the ability to align short reads to unique members of thelibrary.

Importantly, the programmable microarray approach described herein,further including the antibody-focused adaptions, algorithms to designoligonucleotide sequences with reduced redundancy, and/or short readalignments, all lend themselves for wide extension of the programmablemicroarray technology to detection of other pathogens (e.g., bacteria orfungi), as well as adaption into other display systems (e.g., ribosomedisplay, arrayed peptide, or yeast display). In this regard, thecombination of advantages described herein provide a wide-ranging,systematic approach for using host antibody response as a means toidentify past and present pathogen exposure.

The proteomic technology described herein applies a phage library thatcan uniformly express peptide libraries, such as syntheticrepresentations of a complete set of viral peptides known to infecthumans. Using this approach, the Inventors demonstrate viral peptidesenriched by donor serum are highly reproducible and sera from differentdonors, on the other hand, recognize distinct profiles of peptidespresumably commensurate with their previous unique histories of viralexposure. Moreover, using this approach, the Inventors identified aknown epitope in the EBV BRRF2 protein that is cross-reactive withautoimmune antigens in patients with multiple sclerosis. The describedsystems and methods can therefore be applied to determine commonantiviral antibody responses in people immunized against viruses inorder to improve vaccine design.

All references cited herein are incorporated by reference in theirentirety as though fully set forth. Unless defined otherwise, technicaland scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonlyunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventionbelongs. Singleton el al., Dictionary of Microbiology and MolecularBiology 4^(th) ed., J. Wiley & Sons (New York, N.Y. 2012); March,Advanced Organic Chemistry Reactions, Mechanisms and Structure 5^(th)ed., J. Wiley & Sons (New York, N.Y. 2001); and Sambrook and Russel,Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual 4th ed., Cold Spring HarborLaboratory Press (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 2012); provide one skilled inthe art with a general guide to many of the terms used in the presentapplication.

One skilled in the art will recognize many methods and materials similaror equivalent to those described herein, which could be used in thepractice of the present invention. Indeed, the present invention is inno way limited to the methods and materials described. For purposes ofthe present invention, the following terms are defined below.

As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow,the meaning of“a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the descriptionherein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise.

The present invention may be as defined in any one of the followingnumbered paragraphs.

1. A method for detecting an antibody against a pathogen in a subject,the method comprising:

(a) contacting a reaction sample comprising a display library with abiological sample comprising antibodies, wherein the display librarycomprises a plurality of peptides derived from a plurality of pathogens,and

(b) detecting a peptide bound to at least one antibody, therebydetecting an antibody capable of binding the peptide.

2. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the plurality of pathogens is aplurality of viruses, bacteria or fungi.3. The method of paragraph 1 or 2, wherein the display library is aphage display library.4. The method of paragraph 1, 2, or 3, wherein the antibodies in thereaction sample are immobilized.5. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein theantibodies are immobilized to a solid support adapted for binding IgM,IgA, or IgG subclasses.6. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein theantibodies are immobilized by contacting the display library andantibodies from the biological sample with Protein A and/or Protein G.7. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein theProtein A and/or Protein G are immobilized to a solid support.8. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, comprisingremoving unbound antibody and peptides of the display library.9. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein theplurality of peptides are each less than 100, 200, or 300 amino acidslong.10. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein theplurality of peptides are each less than 75 amino acids long.11. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein eachpeptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a common adapter regionappended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide.12. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein thedetection of the antibody comprises a step of lysing the phage andamplifying the DNA.13. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein at leasttwo antibodies are detected.14. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, wherein the atleast two antibodies are detected simultaneously.15. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, whereinantibodies from the biological samples are immobilized.16. A method for identifying a pathogen associated with a disease, themethod comprising

(a) obtaining a biological sample from a plurality of subjects having acommon disease, wherein the common disease is suspected of having apathogenic component,

(b) separately contacting each sample of a plurality of reaction sampleswith each biological sample under conditions that allow formation of atleast one antibody-peptide complex, wherein the reaction samples eachcomprise a display library comprising a plurality of peptides derivedfrom a plurality of pathogens,

(c) isolating the at least one antibody-peptide complex formed in eachreaction sample from unbound phage,

(d) correlating at least one peptide in the at least oneantibody-peptide complex in each reaction sample to the pathogen fromwhich it is derived, and

(e) identifying a pathogen that is significantly enriched in theplurality of subjects with disease compared to subjects without thedisease.

17. The method of paragraph 16, wherein the plurality of pathogens is aplurality of viruses, bacteria or fungi.18. The method of paragraph 16 or 17, wherein the display library is aphage display library.19. The method of paragraph 16, 17, or 18, wherein the antibodies in thereaction sample are immobilized.20. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-19, wherein the antibodiesare immobilized to a solid support adapted for binding IgM, IgA, or IgGsubclasses.21. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-20, wherein the antibodiesare immobilized by contacting the display library and antibodies fromthe biological sample with Protein A and/or Protein G.22. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-21, wherein the Protein Aand/or Protein G are immobilized to a solid support.23. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-22, wherein the plurality ofpeptides are each less than 100 amino acids long.24. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-23, wherein the plurality ofpeptides are each less than 75 amino acids long.25. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-24, wherein each peptide ofthe plurality of peptides comprises a common adapter region appended tothe end of the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide.26. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-25, wherein the detection ofthe at least one peptide in the at least one antibody-peptide complexcomprises a step of lysing the phage and amplifying the DNA.27. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-26, wherein at least twopeptides are detected.28. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-27, wherein the at least twopeptides are detected simultaneously.29. The method of any one of paragraphs 16-28, wherein the commondisease comprises disease selected from the group consisting of:Kawasaki Disease, Bell's Palsy, Meniere's Disease, Type I diabetes,juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gulf WarIllness, Myasthenia Gravis, and IgG4 disease.30. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, furthercomprising identifying the epitope to which the antibody binds.31. The method of any one of the preceding paragraphs, furthercomprising determining whether the antibody cross-reacts with anautoimmune antigen in the subject.32. A method for improving vaccine design, the method comprising:

(a) obtaining a biological sample from a plurality of subjects exposedto a pathogen,

(b) separately contacting each sample of a plurality of reaction sampleswith each biological sample under conditions that allow formation of atleast one antibody-peptide complex, wherein the reaction samples eachcomprise a display library comprising a plurality of peptides derivedfrom a plurality of pathogens,

(c) isolating the at least one antibody-peptide complex formed in eachreaction sample from unbound phage,

(d) correlating at least one peptide in the at least oneantibody-peptide complex in each reaction sample to the pathogen fromwhich it is derived, and

(e) identifying an antigenic peptide that is significantly enriched inthe plurality of subjects exposed to the pathogen as compared tosubjects that have not been exposed to the pathogen for use in designingan improved vaccine.

33. The method of paragraph 32, wherein the plurality of pathogens is aplurality of viruses, bacteria or fungi.34. The method of paragraph 32 or 33, wherein the display library is aphage display library.35. The method of paragraph 32, 33 or 34, wherein the antibodies in thereaction sample are immobilized.36. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-35, wherein the antibodiesare immobilized to a solid support adapted for binding IgM, IgA, or IgGsubclasses.37. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-36, wherein the antibodiesare immobilized by contacting the display library and antibodies fromthe biological sample with Protein A and/or Protein G.38. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-37, wherein the Protein Aand/or Protein G are immobilized to a solid support.39. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-38, wherein the plurality ofpeptides are each less than 100, 200, or 300 amino acids long.40. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-39, wherein the plurality ofpeptides are each less than 75 amino acids long.41. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-40, wherein each peptide ofthe plurality of peptides comprises a common adapter region appended tothe end of the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide.42. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-41, wherein the detection ofthe antigenic peptide comprises a step of lysing the phage andamplifying the DNA.43. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-42, wherein at least twopeptides are detected.44. The method of any one of paragraphs 32-43, wherein the at least twopeptides are detected simultaneously.45. A phage library displaying a plurality of viral peptides, whereinthe plurality of viral peptides represent a set of peptides from virusesknown to infect humans.46. The phage library of paragraph 45, wherein the phage librarycomprises a plurality of viral peptides from at least 3 viruses known toinfect humans.47. The phage library of paragraph 45 or 46, wherein the phage librarycomprises a plurality of viral peptides from at least 10 viruses knownto infect humans.48. The phage library of paragraph 45, 46, or 47 wherein the phagelibrary comprises a plurality of viral peptides from at least 20 virusesknown to infect humans.49. The phage library of any one of claims 45-48, wherein the phagelibrary comprises at least 10 peptide sequences.50. The phage library of any one of claims 45-49, wherein the phagelibrary comprises at least 20 peptide sequences.51. The phage library of any one of claims 45-50, wherein the pluralityof peptides are each less than 100, 200 or 300 amino acids long.52. The phage library of any one of claims 45-51, wherein the pluralityof peptides are each less than 75 amino acids long.53. The phage library of any one of claims 45-52, wherein each peptideof the plurality of peptides comprises a common adapter region appendedto the end of the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide.54. The phage library of any one of claims 45-53, wherein the pluralityof peptides are immunodominant epitopes.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Peptide Sequence Library Generation

The general process is illustrated in FIG. 1C. Peptide sequences areback-translated into DNA sequences with randomized codon usage tominimize sequence redundancy in order to facilitate uniqueidentification using short DNA reads. The DNA sequences were also editedusing synonymous mutations to remove rare codons and restriction sitesused for downstream cloning. Finally, a common “adapter” region wasappended to the ends of each DNA sequence to allow PCR amplification ofthe library. The final set of defined DNA sequences were synthesized asoligonucleotides on a programmable DNA microarray, PCR amplified, andcloned into a commercially available T7-Select 10-3b display systemusing standard molecular biology techniques. The T7-Select 10-3b systemproduces peptides encoded by DNA as fusions to the exterior coatproteins of T7 bacteriophage particles. Each bacteriophage particlecontains DNA encoding a peptide fused to the C-terminus of the T7 gene10 protein. The exterior of the bacteriophage particle is surrounded by415 copies of the gene 10 protein; on average, 5-15 of these copies willcontain the C-terminal peptide fusion.

Example 2 Immobilization Steps

One can mix this set of modified bacteriophage with a sample containingantibodies. Any antiviral antibodies in the sample will bind tobacteriophage that display the cognate antigen. After a period ofmixing, one adds in micron-sized magnetic beads coated with Protein Aand Protein G. Protein A and G will bind to antibodies in the mixtureand immobilize them on the beads. This process also immobilizes anyphage particles bound by the antibodies. After another period of mixing,one can use a magnet to separate the immobilized phage from unboundphage.

Example 3 Phage Lysis and Signal Reading

Then, phage are lysed by heat denaturation and PCR is applied to amplifythe DNA region corresponding to the displayed peptide sequence. This PCRprimer contains a common adapter sequence which can be amplified in asecond PCR reaction by another set of primers to prepare the DNA forIllumina high throughput sequencing. Unique barcoded oligonucleotides inthe second PCR reaction amplify different samples and pool them togetherin one sequencing run for cost reduction.

To distinguish various signal reads, a set of custom Python scripts areapplied to count the frequency of each peptide in each barcoded sample,and custom statistical analysis is applied to identify which peptidesare significantly enriched by the selection. One can then determinewhich peptide epitopes are being recognized by antibodies in thosesamples.

Example 4 Detection of Viral Antibodies

As a preliminary test, the Inventors performed a pull-down using acommercial HA antibody, which recognizes an epitope of influenzahaemagglutinin. Results are shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Importantly, usingthe described systems and methods, the Inventors were able to confirm 10to 100-fold enrichment of at least two out of eight peptides in thelibrary that contain the HA epitope. In a pilot study of donor antibodyrepertoires, the Inventors discovered that the viral peptides enrichedby donor serum are highly reproducible. Sera from different donors, onthe other hand, recognize distinct profiles of peptides presumablycommensurate with their previous unique histories of viral exposure.

A pattern of strong enrichment of peptide epitopes from a single virusindicates the sample donor is or was infected with that virus. In thedescribed study, the Inventors observed that the vast majority of donorshave strong responses against common viruses such as Rhinovirus (commoncold), while fewer patients have strong responses against rarer virusessuch as Human erythrovirus V9 or Simian adenovirus (FIG. 2).

Example 5 Detection of Cross-Reactive Antigens Related to Autoimmunity

As positive confirmation of the described systems and methods, theInventors identified a known epitope in the EBV BRRF2 protein that iscross-reactive with autoimmune antigens in patients with multiplesclerosis (FIG. 3). This technology can be used to identify other suchepitopes in diseases with suspected viral etiology. Particular peptideepitope responses can be important in providing protective immunityagainst reinfection. The described systems and methods can therefore beapplied to determine common antiviral antibody responses in peopleimmunized against viruses in order to improve vaccine design.

Example 6 VirScan

Summary:

The human virome plays important roles in host health and immunity.However, current methods for detecting viral infections and antiviralresponses have limited throughput and coverage. Described herein is theinventors' “VirScan”, a high-throughput method to comprehensivelyanalyze viral infection and antibody response using immunoprecipitationand massively parallel DNA sequencing of a bacteriophage librarydisplaying peptides from all known human virus species. The inventorsassayed over 106 million antibody-viral peptide interactions in 569humans across four different continents, nearly doubling the number ofpreviously established viral epitopes. In this cohort the inventorsdetected immune responses in sera to an average of 10 species of virusesper person and a total of 87 species in at least two individuals. It wasdetermined that although rates of specific virus exposure areheterogeneous across populations, human antibody responses targetstrikingly conserved epitope cohorts for each virus, indicating thatthese broadly immunogenic epitopes elicit highly similar antibodiesacross individuals. The results described herein indicate that VirScanis a powerful approach for studying interactions between the virome andthe immune system.

Background:

Emerging evidence indicates that the collection of viruses found toinfect humans (the “human virome”) can have profound effects on humanhealth (1). In addition to directly causing acute or chronic illness,each virus leaves an indelible footprint in the host. Viral infectionpermanently alters the immune system and can also alter host immunity inmore subtle ways (2). For example, latent herpesvirus infection has beenshown to confer symbiotic protection against bacterial infection in micethrough prolonged production of interferon-y and systemic activation ofmacrophages (3). This interplay between virome and host immunity hasalso been implicated in the pathogenesis of complex diseases such astype 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and asthma (4). Despitethis growing appreciation for the importance of interactions between thevirome and host, a comprehensive method to systematically characterizethese interactions has yet to be developed (5).

The advent of high-throughput DNA sequencing has ushered in a new era ofunbiased viral nucleic acid detection (6). However, nucleic acid testsfail in cases where viruses have already been cleared after causing orinitiating tissue damage and can miss viruses of low abundance orviruses not normally present in the sampled fluid or surface. Incontrast, humoral responses to infection typically arise within twoweeks of initial exposure and can persist over years or decades (7).Tests detecting antiviral antibodies in peripheral blood can thereforeidentify ongoing and cleared infections. However, current serologicalmethods are predominantly limited to testing one virus at a time and aretherefore only employed to address specific clinical hypotheses. Scalingserological analyses to encompass the complete human virome posessignificant technical challenges, but would be of great value for betterunderstanding host-virus interactions, and would overcome many of thelimitations associated with current clinical technologies.

Described herein is VirScan, a novel technology that leverages recentadvances in programmable DNA microarray technology to create a syntheticrepresentation of the human virome (FIG. 1C). Immunoprecipitation andmassively parallel DNA sequencing were used to comprehensively analyzethe binding of an individual's antibodies to peptides in this synthetichuman virome. VirScan is thus able to characterize the full spectrum ofviral peptide epitopes targeted by an individual's B cell response. Bytesting a large number of individuals that are known to have viralinfections detected by classical methods, it was confirmed that thisplatform identifies antiviral responses with very high sensitivity andspecificity. Characterization of 569 serum samples revealed known andnovel differences in viral exposure between populations of differingage, HIV status, and geographic location. Finally, the inventorsemployed VirScan to identify the specific B cell epitope determinantstargeted and found remarkable similarity in epitope recognition acrossindividuals and populations. These findings establish VirScan as apowerful new approach for studying interactions between the human viromeand the immune system in health and disease.

Results The VirScan Platform

VirScan utilizes the Phage Immunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-seq)technology as previously described (8). Briefly, the inventors used aprogrammable DNA microarray to synthesize 93,904 200-meroligonucleotides, encoding 56-residue peptide tiles, with 28 residueoverlaps, that together span the reference protein sequences (collapsedto 90% identity) of all viruses annotated to have human tropism in theUniProt database (9). This library includes peptides from 206 species ofvirus and over 1,000 different strains. The library was cloned into a T7bacteriophage display vector for screening.

To perform a screen, one of skill in the art will incubate the librarywith a serum sample containing antibodies, recover the antibodies usinga mixture of protein A and G coated magnetic beads, and remove unboundphage particles by washing. Finally, one will perform PCR and massivelyparallel DNA sequencing on the phage inserts to quantify enrichment ofeach library member due to antibody binding. Each sample is screened induplicate to ensure reproducibility. VirScan requires only 2 μg ofimmunoglobulin (<1 μL of serum) per sample and can be automated on a96-well liquid handling robot (10). PCR product from 96immunoprecipitations can be individually barcoded and pooled forsequencing, reducing the cost for a comprehensive viral Ab screen toapproximately $25 per sample.

Following sequencing, the inventors tally the read count for eachpeptide before (“input”) and after (“output”) immunoprecipitation. Theinventors then fit a zero-inflated generalized Poisson model to thedistribution of output read counts for each input read count and regressthe parameters as a function of input read count (FIG. 8). Using thismodel, a −log₁₀ (p-value) for the significance of each peptide'senrichment is calculated. Finally, a peptide is determined to be“significantly enriched” if its −log₁₀ (p-value) is greater than thereproducibility threshold of 2.3 in both replicates (FIG. 9).

VirScan is Highly Sensitive and Specific

FIG. 4a shows the antibody profiles of a set of human viruses in serafrom a typical group of individuals in a heat map format thatillustrates the number of enriched peptides from each virus. Theinventors frequently detected antibodies to multiple peptides fromcommon human viruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Cytomegalovirus(CMV), and rhinovirus. As expected, more peptides were observed to beenriched from viruses with larger proteomes, such as EBV and CMV, likelybecause there are more epitopes available for recognition. The inventorsnoticed fewer enriched peptides in samples from individuals less thanten years of age compared to their geographically matched controls, inline with an accumulation of viral infections throughout adolescence andadulthood. However, there were occasional samples from young donors withvery strong responses to viruses that cause childhood illness, such asParvovirus B19 and Herpesvirus 6B, which cause the “fifth disease” and“sixth disease” of the classical infectious childhood rashes,respectively (11). These observations are examined in greater detail inFIG. 5.

A computational method was developed to identify the set of viruses towhich an individual has been exposed, based on the number of enrichedpeptides identified per virus. Briefly, the inventors set a thresholdnumber of significant non-overlapping peptide enrichments for eachvirus. The inventors empirically determined that a threshold of threenon-overlapping enriched peptides gave the best performance fordetecting Herpes simplex virus 1 compared to a commercial serologictest, described below (Table 1).

TABLE 1 Virscan is highly sensitive and specific. Sensitivity is thepercentage of samples positive for the virus as determined by VirScanout of all n known positives. Specificity is the percentage of samplesnegative for the virus by VirScan out of all n known negatives.Sensitivity Specificity Virus (n) (n) Hepatitis C virus 93% (26) 97%*(31) Human immunodeficiency 93% (61) 97%** (31) virus 1 Herpes simplexvirus 1 97% (38) 100% (6) Herpes simplex virus 2 90% (20) 100% (24) *Theone false negative was from an individual whose HCV-negative status wasself-reported, but had antibodies to as many HCV peptides as 23% of thetrue HCV positive individuals and is likely to be HCV positive now or inthe past. It is possible that this individuals was exposed to HCV butcleared the infection. If true, the observed specificity for HCV is100%. **The one false positive was from an individual whose HIV-negativestatus was self-reported, but had antibodies to as many HIV peptides as68% of the true HIV positive individuals and was very likely to be HIVpositive. If true, the observed specificity for HIV is 100%.

For other viruses, the inventors adjusted the threshold to account forthe size of the viral proteome (FIG. 10). Next, the number of enrichedpeptides from each virus was tallied. Antibodies generated against aspecific virus can cross-react with similar peptides from a relatedvirus. This would lead to false positives because an antibody targetedto an epitope from one virus to which a donor was exposed would alsoenrich a homologous peptide from a related virus to which the donor maynot have been exposed. In order to address this issue, the inventorsadopted a maximum parsimony approach to infer the fewest number of virusexposures that could elicit the observed spectrum of antiviral peptideantibodies. For groups of enriched peptides that share a 7 amino acidsubsequence and may be recognized by a single specific antibody, theinventors only count it as one epitope for the virus which has thegreatest number of other enriched peptides. If this adjusted peptidecount is greater than the threshold for that virus, the sample isconsidered positive for the virus.

Using this analytical framework, the inventors measured the performanceof VirScan using serum samples from patients known to be infected or notinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C virus(HCV), based on commercial Elisa and WB assays. For both viruses,VirScan achieves very high sensitivities and specificities of ˜95% orhigher (Table 1). The viral genotype was also known for the HCV samples.Despite the very high sequence similarity among HCV genotypes (12),which poses a problem for all antibody-based detection methods, VirScancorrectly reported the HCV genotype in 72% of the samples. The inventorsalso compared VirScan to a commercially available serology test that istype specific for the highly related Herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2(HSV1 and HSV2). Again, despite sequence similarity between theseviruses, VirScan is extremely specific and sensitive (Table 1). Theseresults demonstrate that VirScan performs well in distinguishing betweenclosely related viruses. The data also demonstrate that VirScan candetect antibodies to viruses that range in size from small (HIV and HCV)to very large (HSV1 and HSV2) with high sensitivity and specificity.

Population-Level Analysis of Viral Exposures

After ascertaining the high accuracy of VirScan for a panel of viruses,the inventors undertook a large-scale screening of samples that lackedany annotation of exposure history. Using our multiplex approach, 106million antibody-peptide interactions were assayed using samples from569 human donors in duplicate. Antibody responses were detected to anaverage of 10 species of virus per sample (FIG. 4D). Each person islikely exposed to multiple distinct strains of some viral species. Theseresults are the first such estimate. Antibody responses to 65 of the 206species of virus in the library were detected in at least 5 individuals,and 87 species in at least 2 individuals (Table 2).

TABLE 2 Prevalence of all viruses detected in donors residing in theUnited States. Known HIV-positive and HCV-positive samples were excludedfrom this analysis. Virus % Epstein-Barr virus 88.1 Rhinovirus B 75.2Human adenovirus C 74.6 Rhinovirus A 73.9 Human respiratory syncytialvirus 68.0 Influenza A virus 58.4 Human herpesvirus 6B 57.1 Herpessimplex virus 1 54.1 Cytomegalovirus 49.8 Influenza B virus 42.2Enterovirus C 37.3 Varicella zoster virus 24.4 Human adenovirus F 22.1Human adenovirus B 17.5 Herpes simplex virus 2 16.5 Enterovirus A 16.5Enterovirus B 11.9 Norwalk virus 11.6 Mamastrovirus 1 11.2 Humanherpesvirus 7 10.2 Human parainfluenza virus 3 9.6 Human adenovirus D8.6 Cowpox virus 7.6 Human adenovirus A 6.9 Human metapneumovirus 6.3Human coronavirus HKU1 5.6 Influenza C virus 4.6 Hepatitis B virus 4.6Human parvovirus B19 4.3 Human herpesvirus 6A 4.0 Aichivirus A 4.0Alphapapillomavirus 9 3.6 Rubella virus 3.3 Hepatitis E virus 2.6 Humanherpesvirus 8 2.3 Betapapillomavirus 1 2.3 Rotavirus A 2.0 Humanparainfluenza virus 4 2.0 Torque teno virus 1.7 Measles virus 1.7 Humancoronavirus NL63 1.7 Hepatitis C virus 1.7 Eastern equine encephalitisvirus 1.7 Tanapox virus 1.3 Rotavirus C 1.3 Betapapillomavirus 2 1.3Alphapapillomavirus 7 1.3 Alphapapillomavirus 11 1.3 Alphapapillomavirus10 1.3 Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus 1.0 SARS-related coronavirus1.0 Ross River virus 1.0 Human parainfluenza virus 1 1.0 Humanadenovirus E 1.0 Betacoronavirus 1 1.0 Yaba monkey tumor virus 0.7Variola virus 0.7 Torque teno mini virus 1 0.7 Rotavirus B 0.7 Lagos batvirus 0.7 Human coronavirus 229E 0.7 Hepatitis A virus 0.7 Dugbe virus0.7 Dengue virus 0.7 Chikungunya virus 0.7 Bat coronavirus 1B 0.7Alphapapillomavirus 1 0.7 Yellow fever virus 0.3 Vesicular stomatitisIndiana virus 0.3 Vaccinia virus 0.3 Uukuniemi virus 0.3 Torque tenomidi virus 1 0.3 Orf virus 0.3 Monkeypox virus 0.3 Molluscum contagiosumvirus 0.3 Marburg marburgvirus 0.3 Macacine herpesvirus 1 0.3 KIpolyomavirus 0.3 JC polyomavirus 0.3 Isfahan virus 0.3 Humanparainfluenza virus 2 0.3 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 0.3 Getah virus0.3 Enterovirus D 0.3 Cercopithecine herpesvirus 2 0.3 Bunyamwera virus0.3 Banna virus 0.3 Australian bat lyssavirus 0.3 Alphapapillomavirus 30.3 Alphapapillomavirus 2 0.3 Alphacoronavirus 1 0.3

The most frequently detected viruses are generally those known tocommonly infect humans (FIG. 4E). The inventors occasionally detectedwhat appear to be false positives that may be due to antibodies thatcross react with non-viral peptides. For example, over 43% of thesamples positive for Cowpox virus were right at the threshold ofdetection and had antibodies against a peptide from the C4L gene thatshares an eight amino acid sequence (‘SESDSDSD’) with the ClumpingFactor B protein from Staphylococcus aureus, which humans are known togenerate antibodies against (13). This will become less of an issue asthe inventors test more examples of sera from patients with knowninfections to determine the set of likely immunogenic peptides for agiven virus. The inventors frequently detected antibodies to rhinovirusand respiratory syncytial virus, which are normally found only in therespiratory tract, indicating that VirScan using blood samples is stillable to detect viruses that do not cause viremia. Antibodies toinfluenza, which is normally cleared, and poliovirus were also detected,which in modern times most people generate antibodies throughvaccination. Since the original antigen is no longer present, theinventors are likely detecting antibodies secreted by long-lived memoryB cells (14).

The frequency at which influenza (58.4%) and poliovirus (37.3%) wasdetected is lower than expected given that the majority of thepopulation has been exposed to or vaccinated against these viruses. Thismay be due to reduced sensitivity because of a gradual narrowing anddecrease of the long-lived B cell response in the absence of persistentantigen. The frequency of detecting varicella zoster virus (chicken pox)antibodies is also lower than expected (24.4%), even though thefrequency of detecting other latent herpesviruses, such as Epstein-Barrvirus (88.1%) and cytomegalovirus (49.8%), is similar to the prevalencereported in epidemiological studies (15-17). Without wishing to be boundby theory, this may reflect differences in how frequently these virusesshed antigens that stimulate B cell responses or a more limited humoralresponse that relies on epitopes that cannot be detected in a 56 residuepeptide. It might be possible to increase the sensitivity of detectionof these viral antibodies by stimulating memory B cells in vitro toprobe the history of infection more deeply.

To assess differences in viral exposure between populations, theinventors split the samples into different groups based on age, HIVstatus, and geography. Results were first compared from children underthe age of ten to adults within the United States (HIV-positiveindividuals were excluded from this analysis) (FIG. 5A). Fewer childrenwere positive for most viruses, including Epstein-Barr virus, HSV1,HSV2, and influenza virus, which is consistent with our preliminaryobservations comparing the number of enriched peptides (FIG. 4A). Eventhough children may generate lower antibody titers in general, the dataare in line with these younger donors probably have not yet been exposedto many of these viruses, for example HSV2 which is sexually transmitted(18).

When comparing results from HIV positive to HIV negative samples, theinventors found more of the HIV positive samples to also be seropositivefor additional viruses, including HSV2, CMV, and Kaposi'ssarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) (false discovery rate q<0.05, FIG.5B). These results are consistent with prior studies indicating higherrisk of these co-infections in HIV positive patients (19-21). Withoutwishing to be bound by theory, the patients with HIV may engage inactivities that put them at higher risk for exposure to these viruses.Alternatively, these viruses may increase the risk of HIV infection.

Finally, the inventors compared the evidence of viral exposure betweensamples taken from adult HIV-negative donors residing in countries fromfour different continents (the United States, Peru, Thailand, and SouthAfrica). In general, donors outside the United States had higherfrequencies of seropositivity (FIGS. 5C-5E). For example,cytomegalovirus antibodies were found in significantly higherfrequencies in samples from Peru, Thailand, and South Africa. Otherviruses, such as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and HSV1 weredetected more frequently in donors from Peru and South Africa, but notThailand. The observed seroprevalence of different adenovirus speciesvaries across populations. Adenovirus C seropositivity was found atsimilar frequencies in all regions, but Adenovirus D seropositivity wasgenerally higher outside the United States, while Adenovirus Bseropositivity was higher in Peru and South Africa, but lower inThailand. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the higher rates ofvirus exposure outside the United States could be due to differences inpopulation density, cultural practices, sanitation, or geneticsusceptibility. Interestingly, Influenza B seropositivity was morecommon in the United States compared to other countries, especiallyThailand. The incidence of Influenza B is much lower than Influenza Abut the standard flu vaccination contains both Influenza A and Bstrains, so the elevated frequency of individuals with seroreactivitymay be due to higher rates of flu vaccination in the United States.Other viruses, such as Rhinovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, were detectedat very similar frequencies in all the geographic regions.

Analysis of Viral Epitope Determinants

After analyzing responses on the whole virus level, the inventorsfocused their attention on the specific peptides targeted by theseantibodies. They detected antibodies to a total of 3,041 unique peptidesin at least 2 samples, and 5,314 in at least 1 sample. Because of thepresence of many related peptides in the library and the Immune EpitopeDatabase (IEDB), for the following analysis the inventors consider apeptide “unique” only if it does not contain a continuous 7-residuesubsequence (the estimated size of a linear B cell epitope) in commonwith any other peptide in the database. Analyzed as such, the VirScandatabase nearly doubles the 1,715 unique human B cell epitopes fromhuman viruses in the IEDB (22). The epitopes identified in our unbiasedanalysis demonstrate a significant overlap with those contained in theIEDB (p<10⁻³⁰, FIG. 4B). The amount of overlap is even greater forepitopes from viruses that commonly cause infection (FIG. 4D). It mayhave been possible to detect even more immunogenic peptides in commonwith the IEDB if more samples from individuals infected with rareviruses were tested. The inventors next analyzed the amino acidcomposition of recurrently enriched peptides. Enriched peptides tend tohave more proline and charged amino acids and fewer hydrophobic aminoacids, which is consistent with a previous analysis of B cell epitopesin the IEDB (FIGS. 11A-11B) (23). This trend likely reflects enrichmentfor amino acids that are surface exposed or can form strongerinteractions with antibodies.

B Cell Responses Target Highly Similar Viral Epitopes Across Individuals

The inventors compared the profile of peptides recognized by theantibody response in different individuals and found that for a givenprotein, each sample generally only had strong responses against one tothree immunodominant peptides (FIG. 6). Surprisingly, it was found thatthe vast majority of seropositive samples for a given virus recognizedthe same immunodominant peptides, indicating that the antiviral B cellresponse is highly stereotyped across individuals. For example, inglycoprotein G from respiratory syncytial virus, there is only a singleimmunodominant peptide comprising positions 141-196 that is targeted byall samples with detectable antibodies to the protein, regardless of thecountry of origin (FIG. 6A).

For other antigens, the inventors observed inter-population serologicaldifferences. For example, two overlapping peptides from position 309-364and 337-392 of the penton base protein from Adenovirus C frequentlyelicited antibody responses (FIG. 6B). However, donors from the UnitedStates and South Africa had much stronger responses to peptide 309-364(p<10⁻⁶) relative to donors from Thailand and Peru. The inventorsobserved that for the EBNA1 protein from Epstein Barr virus, donors fromall four countries frequently had strong responses to peptide 393-448and occasionally to peptide 589-644. However, donors from Thailand andPeru had much stronger responses to peptide 57-112 (p<10⁻⁶) (FIG. 6C).These differences may reflect variation in the strains endemic in eachregion. In addition, polymorphism of MHC class II alleles,immunoglobulin genes and other modifiers that shape immune responses ineach population likely play a role in defining the relativeimmunodominance of antigenic peptides.

To determine whether the humoral responses that target an immunodominantpeptide are actually targeting precisely the same epitope, the inventorsconstructed single-, double-, and triple-alanine scanning mutagenesislibraries for 8 commonly recognized peptides. These were introduced intothe same T7 bacteriophage display vector and subjected to the sameimmunoprecipitation and sequencing protocol using samples from theUnited States. Mutants that disrupt the epitope diminish antibodybinding affinity and thus peptide enrichment. It was found that for all8 peptides tested, there was a single, largely contiguous subsequence inwhich mutations disrupted binding for the majority of samples. Asexpected, the triple-mutants abolished antibody binding to a greaterextent, and the enrichment patterns were similar among single-, double-and triple-mutants of the same peptide (FIG. 7, FIGS. 12-18). For 4 ofthe 8 peptides, a 9 to 15 amino acid region was critical for antibodyrecognition in >90% of samples (FIG. 7, FIGS. 12-14). One other peptidehad a region of similar size that was critical in about half of thesamples (FIG. 15). In another peptide, a single region was important forantibody recognition in the majority of the samples, but the extents ofthe critical region varied slightly for different samples andoccasionally there are donors that recognize a completely separateepitope (FIG. 16). The remaining two peptides contained a single triplemutant that abolished binding in the majority of samples, but thecritical region also extended further to different extents depending onthe sample (FIGS. 17-18). Surprisingly, in one of these peptides, inaddition to the main region surrounding positions 13-14 that is criticalfor binding, a single G36A mutation disrupted binding in almost half ofthe samples whereas none of the double- or triple-alanine mutants thatalso included the adjacent positions (L35, G37) affected binding (FIG.18). It is possible that G36 plays a role in helping the peptide adoptan antigenic conformation and multiple-mutants containing the adjacentLeu or Gly residues rescue this ability. The inventors occasionally sawother examples of mutations that resulted in patterns of disruptedbinding with no simple explanation, illustrating the complexity ofantibody-antigen interaction.

Described herein is “VirScan”, a technology for identifying viralexposure and B cell epitopes across the entire known human virome in asingle, multiplex reaction using less than a drop of blood. VirScan usesDNA microarray synthesis and bacteriophage display to create a uniform,synthetic representation of peptide epitopes comprising the humanvirome. Immunoprecipitation and high-throughput DNA sequencing revealsthe peptides recognized by antibodies in the sample. VirScan is easilyautomated in 96-well format to enable high throughput sample processing.Barcoding of samples during PCR enables pooled analysis which candramatically reduce the per-sample cost. The VirScan approach hasseveral advantages for studying the effect of viruses on the host immunesystem. By detecting antibody responses, it can identify infectiousagents that have been cleared after an effective host response. Currentserological methods of antiviral antibody detection typically employ theselection of a single optimized antigen in order to achieve highaccuracy. In contrast, VirScan's unique approach does not require suchoptimization in order to obtain similar performance. VirScan achieveshigh sensitivity by assaying each virus's complete proteome to detectany antibodies directed to epitopes that can be captured in a 56-residuefragment and high specificity by computationally eliminatingcross-reactive antibodies. This unbiased approach identifies exposure toless well-studied viruses for which optimal serological antigens are notknown and can be rapidly extended to include new viruses as they arediscovered (24).

While sensitive and selective, VirScan also has a few limitations.First, it cannot detect epitopes that require post-translationalmodifications. Secondly, it cannot detect epitopes that involvediscontinuous sequences on protein fragments greater than 56 residues.In principle, the latter can be overcome by using longer peptides or byusing alternative protein display technologies such as Parallel Analysisof Translated ORFs (PLATO) (25). Third, VirScan is likely to be lessspecific compared with certain nucleic acid tests that discern highlyrelated virus strains. However, VirScan demonstrates excellentserological discrimination among similar virus species, such as HSV1 andHSV2 and can even distinguish the genotype of HCV 72% of the time. Theinventors envision VirScan will become an important tool for first-passunbiased serologic screening applications. Individual viruses or viralproteins uncovered in this way can subsequently be analyzed in furtherdetail using more focused assays, as demonstrated for a panel ofimmunodominant epitopes.

The inventors have demonstrated that VirScan is a sensitive and specificassay for detecting exposure to viruses across the human virome. Becauseit can be performed in high-throughput and requires minimal sample andcost, VirScan enables rapid and cost-effective screening of largenumbers of samples to identify population-level differences in virusexposure across the human virome. In this work, the inventors analyzedover 106 million antibody-viral peptide interactions, in the firstcomprehensive study of pan-virus serology in a large, diversepopulation. In doing so we 87 different viral species were detected in 2or more individuals. This is likely to be an underestimate of thehistory of viral infection as temporally distant infections may havesignificantly lower levels of circulating antibodies that are moredifficult to detect. In addition, within a species an individual can beinfected by multiple distinct strains of that viral species. Theinventors identified known and novel differences in virus exposurebetween groups differing in age, HIV status, and geographic locationacross four different continents. The results described herein arelargely consistent with previous studies, validating the effectivenessof VirScan. For example, cytomegalovirus antibodies were found insignificantly higher frequencies in Peru, Thailand, and South Africawhereas Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and HSV1 antibodies weredetected more frequently in Peru and South Africa, but not Thailand (15,26-30). The inventors also uncovered previously undocumented serologicaldifferences, such as an increased rate of antibodies against AdenovirusB and respiratory syncytial virus in HIV positive individuals comparedto HIV negative individuals. These differences can provide insight intohow HIV co-infection alters the balance between host immunity andresident viruses, as well as help to identify pathogens that canincrease susceptibility to HIV and other heterologous infections. HIVinfection can reduce the immune system's ability to control reactivationof normally dormant resident viruses or to prevent opportunisticinfections from taking hold and triggering a strong adaptive immuneresponse. Beyond the epidemiological applications demonstrated here,VirScan can also be applied to identify viral exposures that correlatewith disease or other phenotypes in virome-wide association studies.

These result identify a large number of novel B cell epitopes,cumulatively nearly doubling the number of all previously identifiedviral epitopes. Knowledge of these epitopes and the extent of theirrecognition can have important implications beyond the identification ofpotential neutralizing antibody targets or improving B cell epitopeprediction algorithms. For example, these epitopes can be used toimprove vaccine design by piggybacking on existing immune responses.Fusing a previously detected and globally recognized B cell epitope toan antigen can increase a vaccine's efficacy among a broad population byimproving antigen presentation and aiding affinity maturation. B cellsrecognizing the epitope can act as antigen presenting cells tore-present epitopes on MHC class I and II (31). Antibodies secreted bythese B cells can also participate in immune complexes with the antigen,which are critical for follicular dendritic cells to prime classswitching and affinity maturation of B cells recognizing other epitopeson the same antigen (32). The inventors have utilized these data toidentify globally immunodominant and commonly recognized “public”epitopes that can be used for this purpose. For most species of viruses,a single peptide is recognized in over 70% to 97% of samples positivefor that species (Table 3).

TABLE 3  Certain peptides are commonly targeted by theantibody response.  Species Protein Peptide % Rhinovirus B GenomeQTDALTEGLSDELEEVIVEKTKQTLASV 97.2% polyproteinSSGPKHTQSVPALTANETGATLPTRPSD Human Envelope TASGEEVAVLSHHDSLESRRLREEEDDD92.7% herpesvirus 5 glycoprotein DDEDFEDA M Enterovirus B GenomeIEQKQLLQGDVEEAVNRAVARVADTLPT 94.1% polyproteinGPRNSESIPALTAAETGHTSQVVPGDTM Human Envelope RRHTQKAPKRIRLPHIREDDQPSSHQPL88.9% herpesvirus 1 glycoprotein D FY Human Epstein-BarrSPPRRPPPGRRPFFHPVAEADYFEYHQE 86.3% herpesvirus 4 nuclearGGPDGEPDMPPGAINGPADDPGEGPST antigen 1 Human AttachmentNKPSTKPRPKNPPRKPKDDYHFEVFNFV 84.9% respiratory glycoproteinPCSICGNNQLCKSICKTIPSNKPKKKPT syncytial virus Human Pre-MTQGRRGNVYVRDSVSGLRVPVRTRPPR 80.1% adenovirus C histone-like Nnucleoprotein Enterovirus C Genome QGALTLSLPKQQDSLPDTKASGPAHSKE 85.4%polyprotein VPALTAVETGATNPLAPSDTVQTRHVVQ Human EnvelopePDPAVAPTSAASRKPDPAVAPTSAASRK 76.9% herpesvirus 3 glycoproteinPDPAVAPTSAATRKPDPAVAPTSAASRR C Norwalk virus Non-LSSMAITFKRALGARPKUPPREILQRPP 84.6% structuralRPPTPEINKKIPPPPPNGEDEINVSYS polyprotein Human EnvelopeERYLKDQQLLGIWGCSGKLICTTAVPWN 75.8% immunodeficiency glycoproteinASWSNKSLEQIWNNMTWMEWDREINNYT virus 1 gp160 Influenza A HemagglutininLGHHAVPNGTLVKTITNDQIEVTNATEL 47.9% virus VQSSSTGRICDSPHRILDGKNCTLIDALThe inventors determined the peptide from each species of virus that wasmost frequently targeted in donors that were exposed to that virus. Ineach row, the frequency is the percentage of samples positive for thespecies of virus that had antibodies targeting the peptide sequenceshown. The parent protein of the peptide is also listed.

The inventors identified a set of two peptides that together arerecognized by >95% of all screened samples and a set of five peptidesthat together are recognized in >99% of screened samples. They alsofound that the B cell response to viral epitopes is highly similarbetween individuals across many viral proteins. Without wishing to bebound by theory, one possible model for this striking similarity is thatthese regions possess properties favorable for antigenicity, such asaccessibility. Another model is that the same or highly similar B cellreceptor sequences that recognize these epitopes are commonly generated.Identical T cell receptor sequences (“public” clonotypes) have beenfound in multiple individuals and are thought to be the result of biasesduring the recombination process that favor certain amino acid sequences(33). V(D)J recombination of the immunoglobulin heavy and light chainloci is also heavily biased (34). Highly similar or even identicalcomplementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) sequences have been observedin dengue virus specific antibodies from different individuals (35).Without wishing to be bound by theory, slight differences in theantibody CDR3 sequence may subtly alter antibody-antigen interaction,leading to the slight variations observed in the extent of criticalepitope regions. It is possible that, rather than being an exception fordengue specific antibodies, this represents a general phenomenon:inherent biases in V(D)J recombination generate the same or similarantibodies in multiple individuals that recognize highly similarepitopes.

In conclusion, VirScan is a powerful new technology that enables humanvirome-wide exploration—at the epitope level—of immune responses inlarge numbers of individuals. The inventors have demonstrated itseffectiveness for determining viral exposure and characterizing viral Bcell epitopes in high throughput and at high resolution. These studieshave revealed intriguing general properties of the human immune system,both at the individual and population scale. VirScan is an importanttool in uncovering the effect of host-virome interactions on humanhealth and disease and can easily be expanded to include other humanpathogens such as bacteria, fungi and protozoa.

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Example 7 Exemplary Materials and Methods

Patient Samples:

Specimens originating from human donors were collected after informedwritten consent was obtained and under a protocol approved by the localgoverning human research protection committee. Secondary use of allsamples for the purposes of this work was exempted by the Brigham andWomen's Hospital Institutional Review Board (Protocol #: 2013P001337).Samples included donors residing in Thailand (n=48), donors residing inPeru (n=48), donors residing in South Africa (n=48), and the remainingdonors residing in the Unites States including HIV⁺ donors (n=61) andHCV⁺ donors (n=26). All serum and plasma samples were stored in aliquotsat −80° C. until use.

Design and Cloning of Viral Peptide and Scanning Mutagenesis LibrarySequences:

For the virome peptide library, the inventors first downloaded allprotein sequences in the UniProt database from viruses with human hostand collapsed on 90% sequence identity. The clustering algorithm UniProtrepresents each group of protein sequences sharing at least 90% sequencesimilarity with a single representative sequence. Then, the inventorscreated 56 aa peptide sequences tiling through all the proteins with 28aa overlap. The inventors reverse translated these peptide sequencesinto DNA codons optimized for expression in E. coli, making synonymousmutations when necessary to avoid restriction sites used in subsequentcloning steps (EcoRI and XhoI). Finally, the inventors added the adaptersequence “aGGAATTCCGCTGCGT” to the 5′ end and “CAGGgaagagctcgaa” to the3′ end to form the 200 nt oligonucleotide sequences.

For the scanning mutagenesis library, the inventors first took thesequences of the peptides to be mutagenized. For each peptide, they madeall single-, double-, and triple-mutants sequences scanning through thewhole peptide. Non-alanine amino acids were mutated to alanine andalanines were mutated to glycine. The inventors reverse translated thesepeptide sequences into DNA codons, making synonymous mutations whennecessary to avoid restriction sites used in subsequent cloning steps(EcoRI and XhoI). The inventors also made synonymous mutations to ensurethat the 50 nt at the 5′ end of peptide sequence is unique to allowunambiguous mapping of the sequencing results. Finally, the inventorsadded the adapter sequence “aGGAATTCCGCTGCGT” to the 5′ end and“CAGGgaagagctcgaa” to the 3′ end to form the 200 nt oligonucleotidesequences.

The 200 nt oligonucleotide sequences were synthesized on a releasableDNA microarray. DNA was PCR amplified using the primers T7-PFA(aatgatacggcggGAATTCCGCTGCGT) and T7-PRA (caagcagaagACTCGAGCTCTTCCCTG),the product was digested with EcoRI and XhoI, and the fragment wascloned into the EcoRI/SalI site of the T7FNS2 vector (8). The resultinglibrary was packaged into T7 bacteriophage using the T7 Select PackagingKit (EMD Millipore) and amplified using the manufacturer suggestedprotocol.

Phage Immunoprecipitation and Sequencing:

The inventors performed phage immunoprecipitation and sequencing using aslightly modified version of previously published PhlIP-Seq protocols(8, 10). First, the inventors blocked each well of a 96 deep-well platewith 1 mL of 3% BSA in TBST overnight on a rotator at 4° C. To eachpre-blocked well, the inventors added sera or plasma containingapproximately 2 μg of IgG (quantified using a Human IgG ELISAQuantitation Set (Bethyl Laboratories)) and 1 mL of the bacteriophagelibrary diluted to approximately 2×10⁵ fold representation (2×10¹⁰ pfufor a library of 10⁵ clones) in phage extraction buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl,pH 8.0, 100 mM NaCl, 6 mM MgSO₄). Two technical replicates wereperformed for each sample. The antibodies were permitted to bind thephage overnight on a rotator at 4° C. The next day, 20 μL each ofmagnetic Protein A and Protein G Dynabeads (INVITROGEN) was added toeach well and immunoprecipitation was allowed to occur for 4 h on arotator at 4° C. Using a 96-well magnetic stand, the beads were washedthree times with 400 μL of PhIP-Seq wash buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5,150 mM NaCl, 0.1% NP-40). After the final wash, the beads wereresuspended in 40 μL of water and the phage lysed at 95° C. for 10 min.We also lysed phage from the library before immunoprecipitation(“input”) and after immunoprecipitation with beads alone.

The inventors prepared the DNA for multiplexed ILLUMINA™ sequencingusing a slightly modified version of a previously published protocol(36). Two rounds of PCR amplification were performed on the lysed phagematerial using hot start Q5 polymerase according to the manufacturersuggested protocol (NEB). The first round of PCR used the primersIS7_HsORF5_2 (ACACTCITTTCCCTACACGACTCCAGTCAGGTGTGATGCTC) andIS8_HsORF3_2 (GTGACTGGAGTTCAGACGTGTGCTCTCCGATCCGAGCTTATCGTCGTCATCC). Thesecond round of PCR used 1 μL of the first round product and the primersIS4_HsORF5_2 (AATGATACGGCGACCACCGAGATCTACACTCTTTCCCTACACGACTCCAGT) and adifferent unique indexing primer for each sample to be multiplexed forsequencing (CAAGCAGAAGACGGCATACGAGATxxxxxxxGTGACTGGAGTTCAGACGTGT, where“xxxxxxx” denotes a unique 7 nt indexing sequence). After the secondround of PCR, the inventors determined the DNA concentration of eachsample by qPCR and pooled equimolar amounts of all samples for gelextraction. Following gel extraction, the pooled DNA was sequenced bythe Harvard Medical School Biopolymers Facility using a 50 bp read cycleon an Illumina HiSeq 2000 or 2500. The inventors pooled up to 192samples for sequencing on each lane and generally obtained approximately100-200 million reads per lane (500,000 to 1,000,000 reads per sample).

Informatics and Statistical Analysis:

The inventors performed the initial informatics and statistical analysisusing a slightly modified version of the previously published technique(8, 10). They first mapped the sequencing reads to the original librarysequences using Bowtie and counted the frequency of each clone in the“input” and each sample “output” (37). Since the majority of clones arenot enriched the inventors use the observed distribution of outputcounts as a null distribution. It was found that a zero-inflatedgeneralized poisson distribution fits the output counts well. Theinventors used this null distribution to calculate a p-value for thelikelihood of enrichment for each clone. The probability mass functionfor the zero-inflated generalized poisson distribution is

${P\left( {Y = y} \right)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{{\pi + {\left( {1 - \pi} \right)\left( {{\theta \left( {\theta + {x\; \lambda}} \right)}^{x - 1}^{{- \theta} - {x\; \lambda}}} \right)}},} & {{{if}{\mspace{11mu} \;}y} = 0} \\{\left( {1 - \pi} \right)\left( {{\theta \left( {\theta + {x\; \lambda}} \right)}^{x - 1}^{{- \theta} - {x\; \lambda}}} \right)} & {{{if}\mspace{14mu} y} > 0}\end{matrix} \right.$

The inventors used maximum likelihood estimation to regress theparameters π, θ, and λ to fit the distribution of counts afterimmunoprecipitation for all clones present at a particular frequencycount in the input. This procedure was repeated for all of the observedinput counts and it was found that θ and λ are well fit by linearregression and π by an exponential regression as a function of inputcount (FIG. 19). Finally, for each clone the inventors used its inputcount and the regression results to determine the null distributionbased on the zero-inflated generalized poisson model, which were used tocalculate the −log₁₀ (p-value) of obtaining the observed count.

To call hits, the inventors determined the threshold for reproducibilitybetween technical replicates based on a previously published method(10). Briefly, the inventors made scatter plots of the log 10 of the−log 10 (p-values) and used a sliding window of width 0.005 from 0 to 2across the axis of one replicate. For all the clones that fell withineach window, the inventors calculated the median and median absolutedeviation of the log 10 of the −log 10 (p-values) in the other replicateand plotted it against the window location (FIG. 8). The inventorscalled the threshold for reproducibility the first window in which themedian was greater than the median absolute deviation. It was found thatthe distribution of the threshold −log 10 (p-value) was centered arounda mean of approximately 2.3 (FIG. 9). So the inventors called a peptidea “hit” if the −log 10 (p-value) was at least 2.3 in both replicates.The inventors eliminated the 593 hits that came up in at least three ofthe twenty-two immunoprecipitations with beads alone (negative controlfor non-specific binding). The inventors also filtered out any peptidesthat were not enriched in at least two of the samples.

To call virus exposures, the inventors grouped peptides according to thevirus the peptide is derived from. All peptides were grouped fromindividual viral strains for which there were complete proteomes. Thesample was counted as positive for a species if it was positive for anystrain from that species. For viral strains which had partial proteomes,the inventors grouped them with other strains from the same species toform a complete set and bioinformatically eliminated homologouspeptides. A threshold number of hits per virus was set based on the sizeof the virus. It was found that there is approximately a power-lawrelationship between size of the virus and the average number of hitsper sample (FIG. 10). In comparing results from VirScan to samples withknown infection, it was empirically determined that a threshold of 3hits for herpes simplex virus 1 worked the best. This value and theslope of the best fit line was used to scale the threshold for otherviruses. The inventors also set a minimum threshold of at least 2 hitsin order to avoid false positives from single spurious hits.

To bioinformatically remove cross-reactive antibodies, the inventorsfirst sorted the viruses by total number of hits in descending order.The inventors then iterated through each virus in this order. For eachvirus, the inventors iterated through each peptide hit. If the hitshared a subsequence of at least 7 aa with any hit previously observedin any of the viruses from that sample, that hit was considered to befrom a cross-reactive antibody and would be ignored for that virus.Otherwise, the hit is considered to be specific and the score for thatvirus is incremented by one. In this way, the inventors summed only thepeptide hits that do not share any linear epitopes. The inventorscompared the final score for each virus to the threshold for that virusto determine whether the sample is positive for exposure to that virus

To identify differences between populations, Fisher's exact test wasfirst used to calculate a p-value for the significance of association ofvirus exposure with one population versus another. Then, the inventorsconstructed a null-distribution of Fisher's exact p-values by randomlypermuting the sample labels 1000 times and re-calculating the Fisher'sexact p-value for each virus. Using this null-distribution, the falsediscovery rate was calculated by dividing the number of permutationp-values more extreme than the one observed by the total number ofpermutations.

IEDB Epitope Overlap Analysis:

The inventors downloaded data for all continuous human B cell epitopesfrom IEDB and filtered out all non-viral epitopes (22). To avoidredundancy in these 4,549 viral epitopes, the inventors grouped togetherepitopes that share a 7 aa subsequence, yielding 1,877 non-redundantepitope groups. Of these groups, 1,715 contain a member epitope that isalso a subsequence of a peptide in the VirScan library. This representsthe total number of epitopes that could be detected by VirScan. Todetermine the number of epitopes detected, the inventors tallied thenumber of epitope groups with at least one member that is contained in apeptide that was enriched in one or two samples. Finally, to determinethe number of non-redundant new epitopes detected, the inventors groupednon-IEDB epitopes containing peptides that share a 7 residuessubsequence and counted the number of these non-redundant peptidegroups.

Scanning Mutagenesis Data Analysis:

First, the inventors estimated the fractional abundance of each peptideby dividing the number of reads for that peptide by the total number ofreads for the sample. Then, the inventors divided the fractionalabundance of each peptide after immunoprecipitation by the fractionalabundance before immunoprecipitation to get the enrichment. To calculaterelative enrichment, the inventors divided enrichment of the mutatedpeptide by enrichment of the wild-type peptide. Since most of thesingle-mutant peptides had wild-type levels of enrichment, the inventorsaveraged enrichment of the wild-type peptide enrichment with enrichmentof single-mutant peptides in the middle two quartiles to get a betterestimate of the wild-type peptide enrichment.

The various methods and techniques described above provide a number ofways to carry out the invention. Of course, it is to be understood thatnot necessarily all objectives or advantages described may be achievedin accordance with any particular embodiment described herein. Thus, forexample, those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods can beperformed in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or groupof advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving otherobjectives or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. A varietyof advantageous and disadvantageous alternatives are mentioned herein.It is to be understood that some preferred embodiments specificallyinclude one, another, or several advantageous features, while othersspecifically exclude one, another, or several disadvantageous features,while still others specifically mitigate a present disadvantageousfeature by inclusion of one, another, or several advantageous features.

Furthermore, the skilled artisan will recognize the applicability ofvarious features from different embodiments. Similarly, the variouselements, features and steps discussed above, as well as other knownequivalents for each such element, feature or step, can be mixed andmatched by one of ordinary skill in this art to perform methods inaccordance with principles described herein. Among the various elements,features, and steps some will be specifically included and othersspecifically excluded in diverse embodiments.

Although the invention has been disclosed in the context of certainembodiments and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that the embodiments of the invention extend beyond the specificallydisclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses andmodifications and equivalents thereof.

Many variations and alternative elements have been disclosed inembodiments of the present invention. Still further variations andalternate elements will be apparent to one of skill in the art. Amongthese variations, without limitation, are systems and methodsincorporating a display system for identifying antibody generation,compositions arising from the described systems and methods, and theparticular use of the products created through the teachings of theinvention. Various embodiments of the invention can specifically includeor exclude any of these variations or elements.

In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities of ingredients,properties such as concentration, reaction conditions, and so forth,used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the invention are tobe understood as being modified in some instances by the term “about.”Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth inthe written description and attached claims are approximations that canvary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by aparticular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parametersshould be construed in light of the number of reported significantdigits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstandingthat the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scopeof some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numericalvalues set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely aspracticable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of theinvention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from thestandard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.

In some embodiments, the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similarreferences used in the context of describing a particular embodiment ofthe invention (especially in the context of certain of the followingclaims) can be construed to cover both the singular and the plural. Therecitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as ashorthand method of referring individually to each separate valuefalling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, eachindividual value is incorporated into the specification as if it wereindividually recited herein. All methods described herein can beperformed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein orotherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and allexamples, or exemplary language (e.g. “such as”) provided with respectto certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminatethe invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of theinvention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should beconstrued as indicating any non-claimed element essential to thepractice of the invention.

Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the inventiondisclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each groupmember can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combinationwith other members of the group or other elements found herein. One ormore members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group forreasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion ordeletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the groupas modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markushgroups used in the appended claims.

Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, includingthe best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.Variations on those preferred embodiments will become apparent to thoseof ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Itis contemplated that skilled artisans can employ such variations asappropriate, and the invention can be practiced otherwise thanspecifically described herein. Accordingly, many embodiments of thisinvention include all modifications and equivalents of the subjectmatter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicablelaw. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in allpossible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unlessotherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

Furthermore, numerous references have been made to patents and printedpublications throughout this specification. Each of the above citedreferences and printed publications are herein individually incorporatedby reference in their entirety.

In closing, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the inventiondisclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the presentinvention. Other modifications that can be employed can be within thescope of the invention. Thus, by way of example, but not of limitation,alternative configurations of the present invention can be utilized inaccordance with the teachings herein. Accordingly, embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited to that precisely as shown anddescribed.

1. A method for detecting an antibody against a pathogen in a subject, the method comprising: (a) contacting a reaction sample comprising a display library with a biological sample comprising antibodies, wherein the display library comprises a plurality of peptides derived from a plurality of pathogens, and (b) detecting a peptide bound to at least one antibody, thereby detecting an antibody capable of binding the peptide.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pathogens is a plurality of viruses, bacteria or fungi.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the display library is a phage display library.
 4. (canceled)
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the antibodies are immobilized to a solid support adapted for binding IgM, IgA, or IgG subclasses. 6-8. (canceled)
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of peptides are each less than 300 amino acids long.
 10. (canceled)
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein each peptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a common adapter region appended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the detection of the antibody comprises a step of lysing the phage and amplifying the DNA.
 13. (canceled)
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two antibodies are detected simultaneously.
 15. (canceled)
 16. A method for identifying a pathogen associated with a disease, the method comprising (a) obtaining a biological sample from a plurality of subjects having a common disease, wherein the common disease is suspected of having a pathogenic component, (b) separately contacting each sample of a plurality of reaction samples with each biological sample under conditions that allow formation of at least one antibody-peptide complex, wherein the reaction samples each comprise a display library comprising a plurality of peptides derived from a plurality of pathogens, (c) isolating the at least one antibody-peptide complex formed in each reaction sample from unbound peptides, (d) correlating at least one peptide in the at least one antibody-peptide complex in each reaction sample to the pathogen from which it is derived, and (e) identifying a pathogen that is enriched in the plurality of subjects with disease compared to subjects without the disease. 17-24. (canceled)
 25. The method claim 16, wherein each peptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a common adapter region appended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide. 26-27. (canceled)
 28. The method claim 16, wherein the at least two peptides are detected simultaneously.
 29. The method claim 16, wherein the common disease comprises disease selected from the group consisting of: Kawasaki Disease, Bell's Palsy, Meniere's Disease, Type I diabetes, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gulf War Illness, Myasthenia Gravis, and IgG4 disease.
 30. The method of claim 16, further comprising identifying the epitope to which the antibody binds.
 31. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining whether the antibody cross-reacts with an autoimmune antigen in the subject. 32-44. (canceled)
 45. A phage library displaying a plurality of viral peptides, wherein the plurality of viral peptides represent a set of peptides from viruses known to infect humans.
 46. The phage library of claim 45, wherein the phage library comprises a plurality of viral peptides from at least 3 viruses known to infect humans. 47-49. (canceled)
 50. The phage library of claim 45, wherein the phage library comprises at least 20 peptide sequences.
 51. (canceled)
 52. The phage library claim 45, wherein the plurality of peptides are each less than 75 amino acids long.
 53. The phage library claim 45, wherein each peptide of the plurality of peptides comprises a common adapter region appended to the end of the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide.
 54. The phage library claim 45, wherein the plurality of peptides are immunodominant epitopes. 